The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in all activities, especially those related to group gatherings. During the lockdown period, faith-based organizations, which are resources for both religious and health promotion activities, had to develop alternative strategies to meet those goals. The purpose of this paper is to describe the sustainability of M.I.C.A.H. Project HEAL, a partnership between an academic medical center and faith-based organizations in underserved communities in New York City, during the initial pandemic lockdown period. The use of virtual platforms facilitated Community Health Advisors (CHAs) in 13 organizations to conduct 47 health education workshops, reaching over 800 participants. Reliance on virtual platforms continued after in person gatherings were permitted. These data further support the benefits of academic partnerships with faith-based organizations to provide timely health information during a public health crisis.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Community based engagement; Faith based organizations; Health promotion.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.