Launched during World Immunization Week, which highlights the importance of vaccines to protect people of all ages, Community Immunity: All About the Booster is the latest addition to HHPH's free suite of educational resources that aims to inspire vaccine literacy, confidence and uptake. Created in partnership with the Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with funding from the National Institutes of Health's Community Engagement Alliance (NIH-CEAL), it features original lyrics written and performed by Joni Holifield, alongside the original Community Immunity track recorded by HHPH Advisory Board Member and Grammy-winning artist Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of RUN-DMC. The music video PSA, developed using HHPH's research-based multi-sensory multi-level health education model, focuses on the importance of booster shots to provide continued protection against COVID-19.
"Woven into Ms. Joni's rhythmic bars is a vital message, 'we might be done with COVID, but COVID's not done with us,'" said Dr. Olajide Williams, Founder of Hip Hop Public Health, tenured Professor of Neurology at Columbia University, and Chief of Staff of the Department of Neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "It's imperative for us to stay vigilant in the fight against COVID-19 and to use every tool at our disposal to protect our communities, especially our communities of color that continue to experience disproportionate impacts from the pandemic. Getting a booster shot helps protect all of us, and it helps us get back to normal."
The Centers for Disease Control currently recommends that people over 12 years old who are fully vaccinated receive a booster shot. Some people, including those over 50, are eligible for a second booster. COVID-19 vaccines help reduce severe illness, hospitalization and death, and they are a critical tool in slowing the spread and lessening the impact of COVID-19. Booster shots help maintain protection against COVID-19, including new variants.
Joni Holifield is the founder and president of HeartSmiles, a youth leadership organization in Baltimore, Maryland. Hip Hop Public Health first collaborated with Ms. Joni and HeartSmiles as part of the Voices on Vax project, a partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Adolescent Health to center youth voices in conversations about COVID-19 vaccination.
"We have to come together to take care of each other and defeat this virus," said Joni Holifield, Founder and President of HeartSmiles. "The most important thing we can do is to get vaxxed, get boosted and make sure our loved ones do, too!"
"We are only as strong as our community, and we are fortunate to have incredible partners in this work," said Lori Rose Benson, Executive Director and CEO of Hip Hop Public Health. "From the very beginning, Community Immunity has been a collaborative effort to spread a positive message of hope and action in the fight against COVID-19. We are honored to work alongside trusted messengers like Ms. Joni, a fierce advocate and a brilliant artist, and we are grateful to partner with Mt. Sinai to promote timely, science-based and relevant information about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine and booster."
"Hip Hop Public Health supports children and families in coming together to have important intergenerational conversations about how they can best support the health of themselves, their loved ones, and their community," said Nita Vangeepuram, MD, MPH, Associate Director of the Institute for Health Equity Research at Mount Sinai's Community Engagement Core. "IHER has been working closely with community partners across New York City who are looking for tools to help families have those important conversations in ways that are guided by accurate, science-based information. All About the Booster will help open up the dialogue for many families across the country."
The Community Immunity and Inmunidad Conmunidad anthologies complement Hip Hop Public Health's suite of COVID-19 health literacy resources including 20 Seconds or More, 20 Segundos o Más and Behind the Mask, designed to inspire handwashing, social distancing and mask wearing. All resources are available to stream or download for free at hhph.org.
About Hip Hop Public Health
Hip Hop Public Health (HHPH) is an internationally recognized 501c3 that harnesses the transformative power of music, culture, and science to improve health literacy and promote health equity in communities of color. Founded by Dr. Olajide Williams of Columbia University, a world-renowned leader in community-based behavioral intervention research, and the legendary Doug E. Fresh, HHPH has a 15-year track record of creating culturally relevant science-based content using an evidence-based framework for health promotion and behavior change, the Multisensory Multilevel Health Education Model, and the Child-Mediated Health Communication framework that focuses on children as messengers for disease prevention and health promotion interventions with parents and caregivers. All of HHPH's 200+ educational resources are available to stream and download for free, removing access barriers for teaching, learning and health literacy. For more information visit hhph.org and follow @hhphorg on social media.
About Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the eight member hospitals of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to a large and diverse patient population. Icahn Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, and Master's degree programs, with current enrollment of approximately 1,300 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,000 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. In addition, more than 550 postdoctoral research fellows are in training within the Health System. The Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER) at Icahn Mount Sinai receives funding from the National Institutes of Health's Community Engagement Alliance (NIH-CEAL). NIH-CEAL supports networks across the country in their work to combat COVID-19 related inequities.
IHER is proud to partner with Hip Hop Public Health as part of NYCEAL's efforts to promote timely, science-based and relevant information to children and their families about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine and booster in protecting the health of themselves and their communities.
SOURCE Hip Hop Public Health
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