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A new case study by Associate Professor Sasha Fleary and colleagues shows how organizational health literacy strengthened community-based organizations’ resources to deliver clear, culturally responsive health information in neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19. Published in Frontiers in Public Health, the study describes a two-year initiative designed to improve organizational health literacy and support COVID-19 precautionary behaviors in marginalized communities with implications for future public health hazards and emergencies.
From March 2022 to June 2024, the NYC Department of Health and CUNY SPH worked with four community-based organizations serving predominantly Black or Latino neighborhoods in New York City on augmenting their organizational health literacy via the Community-based Initiative for Health Literacy and Action (CIHLA). The organizations received support to develop health literacy plans, participate in workshops and communities of practice, and were engaged in a quality improvement process to strengthen how they shared health information and responded to community needs.
The project took place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Morrisania, East Harlem, and Corona, neighborhoods that experienced disproportionate impacts from the pandemic. Researchers found that community-based organizations played a critical role during COVID-19 by sharing prevention guidance, distributing protective supplies, and filling gaps in food and social services. The study argues that strengthening the organizational health literacy of these trusted messengers can improve the reach, clarity, and usefulness of public health communication.
Across the project, the participating organizations created 35 health messaging products in seven languages that reached 63,936 people in their target communities. Involvement in CIHLA resulted in long-term organizational change.
For example, one organization integrated health literacy training in their employee onboarding process while another organization expanded their non-profit work to focus on offering services to build community health literacy. All of the organizations developed tools to ensure that the health information they disseminated met the health literacy needs of their clients.
The authors said the work demonstrated the value of plain language, culturally and linguistically appropriate communication, and ongoing technical assistance in helping organizations better meet community needs.
“By helping community organizations strengthen internal systems and communication practices, this project expanded their ability to support residents during the pandemic and beyond,” says Dr. Fleary.
