How has the coronavirus pandemic affected different groups in Connecticut, and especially the Hartford region? What are people doing to prevent its spread, and what do people know about the virus?

These were the questions researchers at the UConn Department of Public Health Sciences sought to help community-based organizations (CBOs) answer.

At the height of the pandemic in Connecticut in the spring of 2020, the department created a survey to answer these questions. They provided support to six organizations that were able to conduct phone interviews or have clients complete online surveys.

In July 2020, as part of the Putting Local Data to Work project through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute, CTData began working with three of these organizations (Sudanese American House of CT, Family Life in Education, and Hartford Health Initiative) to identify ways to support them as they served their constituents in their response to and recovery from the pandemic. First, we analyzed the survey data and presented it in a digestible format. The data was then presented to the clients in a data walk. CTData also conducted workshops to help build the data literacy skills of the organizations.

Find more information below on the results of each survey and also a summary of our work.

Sudanese American House of CT Corp.

The mission of the Sudanese American House in CT, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is to improve the health and social life of recent immigrants in Connecticut, with special focus on immigrants and refugees who are Arabic-speaking and Muslims, through its program Social Intervention for Health Action (SIHA, meaning “health” in Arabic).

Staff members of SIHA conducted phone interviews of Arabic-speaking Connecticut residents between April 22 and May 14, 2020. One hundred percent of respondents identified their religion as “Muslim,” and the majority identified their race or ethnicity as Black or African American or Other. Click on the image to the right for a PDF of the results.

CTData, in partnership with the Director of Project SIHA, Fawatih Mohamed-Abouh, also planned and facilitated a data walk with members of the Arabic-speaking community of Connecticut. During this session, members participated in group discussions examining the survey results on income and employment, Covid-19 information sources, and issues facing households.

Participants felt it was important to have the chance to talk about data specific to their community since very little data exists about them. They expressed their enthusiasm and appreciation to Dr. Mohamed-Abouh for organizing the group and providing a platform to share their experiences and opinions.

“As the Director of project SIHA, which is a community-based intervention serving the Arabic-speaking people in Greater Hartford, I was very interested in doing the data walk with community members. It was extremely powerful to hear what people think of their own data, and how do they feel about being visible and represented! This effort is going to help us at SIHA to make better decisions and to come up with more meaningful activities to support the communities we serve in CT.”
Fawatih Mohamed-Abouh, Director of Project SIHA

Please explore the work of Project SIHA on their website, or connect with them on Twitter or Facebook, or email them at info@sudanesehouse.org.

Hartford Health Initiative

Hartford Health Initiative (HHI) is a nonprofit committed to increasing equitable healthcare access and improved health outcomes for residents in the City of Hartford. The organization strives to maximize community input in the development of initiatives and programming through community conversations and surveys. HHI focuses on the health of adults and children.

With funding from the Using Data to Inform Local Decision-Making grant, Hartford Health Initiative conducted a pilot Covid-19 survey with Black women living primarily in the North End of Hartford from August-November 2020. Respondents were recruited through community outreach, participant referrals, and partner organizations, resulting in 73 responses. You can see results in the images shown here, or click on this link for a PDF.

CTData collaborated with HHI to conduct a virtual data walk with a group of women who participated in the survey. Chavon Hamilton, the Founder and Executive Director, and David Reyes, Project Associate, coordinated logistics and technology, created the agenda, and facilitated the event. CTData provided the supporting data materials to allow participants to engage with the data.

Participants were eager to discuss a topic that was important to them and their community. They discussed the survey results in depth, providing context and giving ideas for how HHI could meet the needs highlighted by the survey. They thanked HHI for the chance to have the discussion and are interested in similar conversations in the future.

“If we as community intend to attain health equity in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that community organizations and public health entities consider the experiences of all populations, especially those of Black women. Hartford Health Initiative conducted a pilot Covid-19 survey with Black women living primarily in the North End of Hartford from August-November of 2020. Respondents were recruited through community outreach, participant referrals, and through partner organizations. Through data analysis and a Data Walk exercise, we identified the following areas needing more attention: Food insecurity (long term), mental health (awareness and resources) and access to reliable sources of Covid-19 information. In an initial glance, one might say that this is something that is already known, but when dealing with the intersectionality of race and gender, how we address these issues will require an additional lens, which is most effective if we work in partnership with the community we are hoping to serve.”
Chavon Hamilton-Burgess, Founder and Executive Director of the Hartford Health Initiative.

Learn more about the Hartford Health Initiative on their website, or connect with them on Twitter or Facebook.

Family Life Education

Family Life Education is a non-profit social service organization serving at-risk families in need in the Hartford area since 1987. Their unique self-efficacy approach, which differs from the way similar organizations approach services, levels the playing field for parents, meeting them where they are and giving them tools to grow in self-efficacy.

Staff at Family Life Education conducted phone interviews with 64 people from April 23 to May 26, 2020. Most respondents identified as female, and most identified as Hispanic. You can see their results in the images shown here, or click on this link for the pdf.

On January 21, 2021, CTData facilitated a workshop for their staff members. Through discussion with Candida Flores, the Executive Director, we adapted the workshop to meet the specific needs that she thought would be most helpful for her staff. Based on the topics that staff brought up in that workshop and on the surveys they filled out afterward, we are currently working on a plan to continue supporting their organizational data needs.

Please explore Family Life Education at their website or connect with them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, or contact them at info@familylifeedu.org. Sign up for their newsletter here.

Thanks to Chavon Hamilton, Fawatih Mohamed-Abouh, and Candida Flores for allowing us to partner with you in this important work you are engaged in.

We extend our appreciation to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute for creating this grant project and providing CTData the opportunity to work with these organizations and helping put data to action.

Learn more about the other Putting Local Data to Work project grantees here or in this Medium post, which offers an overview of the other projects across the country.

And last but not least, thanks to the UConn Department of Public Health Sciences faculty and researchers who worked with us on the project design and connected us to the community-based organizations we collaborated with.

The Effect of Covid on Organizations in the Hartford Region

Sudanese American House of CT Corp.

Hartford Health Initiative

Family Life Education