My Vaccine Counts Campaign Launches to Promote COVID-19 Vaccines in Under-Served and Under-Vaccinated Communities in Pennsylvania and Delaware

Toolkits, videos, trainings and a website now available to consumers and community health workers

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities, received an $11 million grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) to conduct a Community Health Worker (CHW) COVID-19 vaccine outreach initiative - My Vaccine Counts - aimed to increase COVID-19 vaccination and booster doses across communities in Pennsylvania and Delaware. PHMC partnered with its subsidiary, Pennsylvania Public Health Association (PPHA) and the Delaware Academy of Medicine/DE Public Health Association in both states.

The grant also supports a COVID-19 vaccine media campaign to raise awareness by reaching individuals in their local community through traditional and digital media. The campaign launched recently and supplements the on-the-ground efforts by CHWs and Community Health Organizations working with PHMC.

My Vaccine Counts offers free resources and support to consumers, CHWs and local organizations to help reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the unvaccinated and under vaccinated. The campaign's focus is primarily in vulnerable and under-resourced communities, in addition to newly identified individuals eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"As a public health institute, we exist to ensure that every person and community has what they need to achieve optimal health, including factual information about and access to vaccinations," said Stephanie Shell, Managing Director of Strategy Development at PHMC and Executive Director of PPHA. "The My Vaccine Counts campaign provides resources, toolkits, and face-to-face support in local communities to address hesitancies about the COVID-19 vaccine and educate residents with facts and research highlighting the benefits of vaccination."

To date, PHMC has contracted with 22 community-based organizations and have deployed more than 80 CHWs in Pennsylvania and Delaware communities. PHMC identifies, engages, trains and supports CHWs to connect them with individuals in underserved communities to achieve better health outcomes. This initiative employs a multi-faceted approach of deploying CHWs, imparting ongoing trainings and toolkits, strategies to engage communities in meaningful conversations about their health, community outreach events, a strategic communications media campaign and education materials to educate communities to overcome myths about the COVID-19 vaccine.

"The PHMC HRSA grant has allowed us to continue our grassroots and hyperlocal partnerships-based work as part of our CATE (Community-Accessible Testing & Education) program," said George Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Latino Connection. "We deliver free, essential COVID-19 resources and education to marginalized communities that have been severely impacted by major social, economic and health disparities. Our teams continue to reach folks who are receiving their first dose, almost three years into this pandemic. A notable success of the CATE program is that it spans the borders of private-public partnerships and brought a complex idea to fruition in a matter of only a few months."

PHMC's media campaign includes videos, digital ads and collateral materials launched in PA and DE counties with low vaccination rates. The creative strategy aims at disrupting the saturated media market through humor and getting the attention of families and youth to learn more or to get their vaccine and booster. With the tagline, "You never know what life throws at you," these series of videos catch the viewer's attention featuring people getting caught by surprise through entertaining situations that cannot be controlled and urging people to prepare for some things you can control like getting vaccinated. The digital campaign will run on social channels including Facebook, Instagram, Google Display, Snapchat and You Tube. Traditional media in urban and rural counties includes advertising at grocery and convenience stores, shopping malls, bars/casual dining, pharmacies, doctors' offices and gyms.

To view My Vaccine Counts resources, research, vaccination sites, campaign videos, CHW eligibility and more, visit www.myvaccinecounts.org.

Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that builds healthier communities through partnerships with government, foundations, businesses, and community-based organizations. It fulfills its mission to improve the health of the community by providing outreach, health promotion, education, research, planning, technical assistance, and direct services.

PHMC has served the Greater Philadelphia region since 1972 as a facilitator, developer, intermediary, manager, advocate and innovator in the field of public health. With more than 3,500 employees, hundreds of programs and a network of subsidiary organizations, PHMC serves hundreds of thousands of clients annually and is one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the nation.

Pennsylvania Public Health Association (PPHA), a subsidiary of Public Health Management Corporation and a state affiliate of the American Public Health Association, is an all-membership organization working to promote the health of Pennsylvania residents. PPHA does this through the advancement of sound public health polices and practice.

Delaware Academy of Medicine (Academy) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1930 with a mission to enhance the well-being of the community through medical education and the promotion of public health. The educational initiatives span the spectrum from consumer health education to continuing medical education conferences.

In 2013 the Academy was designated as Delaware's affiliate to the American Public Health Association (APHA) and took on the second name "Delaware Public Health Association" (DPHA). In 2020 the Academy/DPHA was recognized as APHA's "Affiliate of the Year" for its novel work on behalf of both medicine and public health, and as publisher of the Delaware Journal of Public Health, Delaware's only PubMed indexed periodical dedicated to public health and related topics.

SOURCE Public Health Management Corporation