Community Program Evaluation

In our needs assessment, community organizations shared frustration regarding the overwhelming focus on vaccination when critical basic needs were still not being met. We therefore implemented an analysis of programs that have been addressing core social service needs as a pathway toward vaccination uptake. We looked at program components specific to social services and the community/academic partnership to understand program implementation outcomes related to COVID-19 vaccination. Loyola, Northwestern, Rush, U Chicago, and UIC partnered with 17 community organizations from September 2021 – April 2022. We used interviews, program documents, and health department vaccination data to evaluate the programs. These community organizations held 334 events and delivered 5,683 COVID-19 vaccines from May 2021-April 2022. Strategies that worked best included: offering vaccinations on repeating schedules in community settings with flexible hours; delivering vaccinations with ongoing social services; allowing community organizations flexibility to adjust programs; offering incentives; and vaccinating staff first. These strategies supported vaccine acceptance by earning trust. The partnership structure ensured programs remained aligned with their missions and community needs. This analysis emphasizes that community organizations delivering local social services are community experts and trusted messengers. Pairing social services with COVID-19 vaccination built individual agency. Giving community organizations creative control over program implementation enhanced trust and vaccine delivery. This research has policy implications as well: community organizations can quickly deliver urgent health services in a public health crisis when they have appropriate resources and flexibility.

The partnerships with Loyola, Northwestern and U Chicago are continuing for another year to deliver vaccinations and to transition these lessons learned to other health programming. A similar evaluation will be done in the spring of 2023. Rush is applying these lessons learned to an evaluation of a program that provides hypertension and other health services in Chicago’s Black churches.