Congregational COVID-19 Conversations: Utilization of Medical-Religious Partnerships During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Abstract

Over the last 12-months during the pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued public health instructions with the hope of mitigating the spread of the virus. Through existing relationships established by an academic hospital, we established weekly community conference calls to disseminate such critical information on the pandemic and allow community leaders to discuss struggles and successes. From these calls, we were able to collaborate in a more intimate manner with faith-based organizations, whereby we emphasized and planned the role they could undertake during the pandemic. Such emphasis was made between our medical institution and various faith-based organizations through meetings titled "Congregational COVID-19 Conversations." Over the past 12-months, we held virtual meetings with 38 faith-based organizations: 15 Christian congregations, 21 Jewish synagogues, and 2 Islamic masjids. We describe in detail in this report a narrative summary of the meetings. From these meetings, we discussed several COVID-19-related themes that included how to have their place of worship disseminate public health messaging, aid in preparing buildings for public worship, and insight into preparing their regions for aid in both COVID-19 testing and for potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine sites. This medical-religious partnership has proven feasible and valuable during the pandemic and warrants emphasis in that it has the potential to serve a vital role in mitigating COVID-19-related disparities in certain communities, as well as potentially ending the COVID-19 pandemic completely.

Factors Influencing the Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccines in a Country with a High Vaccination Rate

“…In fact, a high trust in these leaders was often associated with a higher refusal to vaccinate. In this scenario, a positive contribution to vaccination could be achieved through partnerships between religious and medical communities [ 32 , 33 ]. Our results are consistent with other studies, showing that it is the high trust in health workers which has been associated with high acceptance of vaccination [ 29 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Improving Vaccination Confidence & Addressing Vaccination Disparities to Help Improve Vaccine Uptake: A Systematic Review

“…A total of 37 articles were included in the analysis ( Figure 1 ) [ 6 , 7 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]. Results were categorized as “public health interventions”, where interventions were related to addressing public health needs across various topics including mental health and physical activity, then “vaccination interventions” which are those focused specifically on supporting vaccine uptake.…”

Predictive Factors of Community Engagement in COVID-19 Vaccination in East Java, Indonesia

“…Two-way dialogue with the community is important for building trust, especially by providing accurate and consistent information to overcome rumors and misunderstandings [30]. The previous study stated that campaigns or delivering information to the public could be carried out online through online platforms such as Zoom [31].…”