Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 in New York’s Capital Region: A View from the Local Community on the Socioemotional Experience of the Pandemic
Time: 10:55 AM - 11:40 AM, June 21
The Capital Region Collaborative Community Survey project was undertaken in December 2020-January 2021 to document the social, economic and health impacts of COVID-19 on residents in the Capital Region, particularly in the city of Albany. A special emphasis was made on documenting disparate impacts on Black and African American (B/AA) communities, as they have been consistently identified as being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. With the active participation of the Albany Minority Health Task Force (AMHTF) – a group of professionals from the Albany community concerned with the health of Communities of Color within the Capital Region, an interdisciplinary study team disseminated a comprehensive survey (N = 239) cataloging healthcare utilization, social relationships, demographics, job and living conditions, technology access, and information-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic; and conducted 25 follow-up interviews with survey participants. This report focuses on a subset of findings from the full survey that are related to the socioemotional impact of the pandemic. More specifically, we report data on (1) the impact of the pandemic on work, income, and on food and shelter insecurities; (2) direct and indirect experiences of the virus and associated anxieties; and (3) the indirect impact of the virus on health and well being through its effect on accessing routine health services, increased needs to access mental health services, concerns about the impact on the well being of children, and experiences of racism. Implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for action are provided, which are grounded in interviewees’ responses when asked what they would most like public officials to know about the experience of the pandemic for them and their local communities, as well as the quantitative survey results, and the assessment of the data by the Albany Minority Health Task Force in the context of their knowledge of the local community.
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