Health Equity in Action
To help the United States succeed against COVID-19, CDC is working with state, territorial, local, and tribal partners, and community-serving organizations, to ensure all public health actions address health disparities for all populations.
- Racial and ethnic minority populations
- People living in rural or frontier areas
- People experiencing homelessness
- Essential and frontline workers
- People with disabilities
- People with substance use disorders
- People who are justice-involved
- Non-US-born persons
Hopi Tribe Support (Arizona)
Communities served: Tribal Nations
Partners: CDC State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support Task Force Tribal Support Section
Objective: Supported the Hopi to mount a robust response to COVID-19 to improve case detection, strengthen epidemiological reporting, communicate safe practices, and encourage mitigation activities. Learn moreexternal icon
Mask America Challenge (nationwide)
Communities served: Title 1 school districts and students
Partners: CDC Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force, CDC Foundation, United Way, Hanes, and Business Roundtable
Objective: Distribute cloth masks to 40 million students, teachers, and staff members at schools receiving federal Title I funding. Learn moreexternal icon
Optimizing COVID-19 Infection Prevention & Control in Clinical Practice (nationwide)
Communities served: Health care providers (HCP) serving populations at disproportionate risk of COVID-19
Partner: Infectious Diseases Society of America
Objective: Optimize dissemination, adoption, and implementation of COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidance among HCPs to reduce transmission. Learn moreexternal icon
National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) (nationwide)
Communities served: Refugees, immigrants, and migrants (RIM) in the United States.
Partner: University of Minnesota
Objective: Provide a centralized hub where state and local health departments working with RIM communities can access data-driven approaches for effective COVID-19 prevention. Learn moreexternal icon
Accessible Materials and Culturally Relevant Messages for Individuals with Disabilities Project (nationwide)
Communities served: People with disabilities; caregivers of people with disabilities; organizations serving people with disabilities
Partners: CDC Foundation and Georgia Tech Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation
Objective: Deliver essential COVID-19 information to people with disabilities, their families, and caregivers. The project helps to ensure that COVID-19 guidelines are not only accessible to people with disabilities, but also that they are culturally appropriate and relevant to the challenges people with disabilities face during emergency response situations such as COVID-19. Learn moreexternal icon
Data
We continue to collect data to assess and track disparities related to COVID-19, work to expand completeness of the data, and develop new ways of communicating data to the public and other partners.
Take a look at some of our COVID-19 data:
Demographic Trends
People at Increased Risk
Project Spotlight:
National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM)
Communities served: Refugees, immigrants, and migrants (RIM) in the United States.
Partner: University of Minnesota
Purpose: NRC-RIM is funded by CDC to provide assistance and resources to state and local health departments working with RIM communities that are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Link to project website: https://nrcrim.umn.edu/external icon
Description: RIM communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 because of long-standing systemic, health, and social inequities. COVID-19 particularly affects people in these communities who experience economic challenges or who are working in essential jobs, like farmworkers and food processing plant employees. Some state and local health departments may not yet be fully equipped to manage COVID-19 outbreaks among culturally and linguistically diverse populations. NRC-RIM offers a centralized, multidisciplinary hub where local health departments and community-based organizations can access data-driven approaches to support effective COVID-19 prevention among RIM communities.
Preliminary or early impact:
- Published four toolkits (Communicationsexternal icon, Community Engagementexternal icon, Case Investigation + Contact Tracingexternal icon, and Testingexternal icon), with more in development
- Provide a robust and growing centralized location for resources related to COVID-19 Vaccinesexternal icon
- Offering health education materials, such as the Translated Materials Libraryexternal icon, videosexternal icon, and premade campaignsexternal icon
- Established a central resource for both On-Demand Trainingexternal icon and Webinarsexternal icon
- Expanded individual resources, which have been accessed hundreds of times, with the checklist for vaccine roll-outexternal icon among RIM communities being particularly popular
More on Health Equity
- Health Equity and Disparities
- Health Equity Considerations & Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
- COVID-19 Vaccine Equity: Best Practices for Community and Faith-Based Organizationspdf icon
- What We Can Do to Promote Health Equity
- CDC COVID-19 Response Health Equity Strategy
- Social Determinants of Health
- Social Vulnerability Index
- Minority Health
- Guide for Awardees to Increase Vaccine Uptakepdf icon
- Expanding COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution to Primary Care Providers to Address Disparities in Immunizationpdf icon
- Racism and Health
- A Guide for Community Partners: Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Members of Racial and Ethnic Minority Communitiespdf icon
Featured Webinars
- Promising Practices in Health Equity (June 2, 2020)
- COVID-19 Response: Promising Practices in Health Equity II (July 29, 2020)
- CDC COCA call: Telehealth & Health Equity: Considerations for Addressing Health Disparities during the COVID-19 Pandemic (September 15, 2020)
Communications
- Print Resources (Posters, guides, checklists)
- COVID-19 One-Stop Shop for Toolkits (including toolkits for older adults and people at higher risk, tribal communities, worker safety and support, shared and congregate housing, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, correctional and detention facilities, and more).
- I Wear a Mask Because video (ASL versions available)
- Public Service Announcements
- Resources for Disproportionately Affected Communities
- Resources for Community Health Workers, Community Health Representatives, and Promotores de la Salud
External Resources
- You Will See Meexternal icon campaign (Ad Council)
- We Can Do Thisexternal icon campaign (HHS)
- National CLAS Standardsexternal icon (HHS)