COVID-19 Outreach in Rural Areas - Reflection of Outreach in North East Texas

Over the past few months, our Rural Communication Institute (RCI) team (Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards, Dr. Subi Gandhi, and Dr. LaShondra Manning) has been tirelessly providing education and outreach for the rural areas of East Texas. This outreach has been both challenging and rewarding since the pediatric vaccine was approved by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

Educating parents about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As a parent, I am always very excited to share health information, but especially this information has been very important for me.

Here's a workshop that we were very excited to view from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. This workshop was focused on "What About the Children: Changing the Landscape on Rural Vaccine Coverage". It focused on health in rural areas, especially for our youngest populations.

Here's the link - https://www.dshs.texas.gov/immunize/covid19/COVID-19-Recruitment.pdf

Also, we have been fortunate to receive funding for travel for our outreach events, shirts, and giveaways. Here's a special shout out to the Episcopal Health Foundation in Texas, because they provided so much support for our project.

At first, we partnered with existing vaccination clinics and these were not very well attended, but THEN we decided to venture out on our own and to create our own clinics with the health of the Texas Department of State Health Services. We have been experimenting with the best time and date for our clinics as well all content for the clinics.

We decided a "Summer Fun and Health Clinic" approach has been the best outreach strategy for reaching the community. The mid-day clinics (before 5pm) were not as well attended for some audiences (i.e. - parents), but other times had much better attendance (after 5pm).

Also, we partnered with Agrilife (Mrs. Clarissa Moon) and Above Average Health Care and House Calls. Agrilife provided educational outreach sessions and Above Average Health Care and House Calls offered health checks and interpretations of lab results.

Do you have any suggestions for us? We are so thankful for our partners!

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Thanks for visiting! 

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Professor of Communication

Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

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Reflecting on the 2020 Census - My Grant Project Funded By the Hogg Foundation

In Fall 2019, I was truly fortunate to receive a grant from the Hogg Foundation to promote the 2020 Census in East Texas. Yes, this area includes my hometown county - Panola County, then Rusk County and Shelby County. This was an AMAZING project! Thanks Hogg Foundation!

The North East Texas Counts campaign had three goals for the project. Goal one was “to select and train 200 NETX Counts Ambassadors and Junior Ambassadors to tell the importance of the census to the community”. Goal two was “to engage and educate at least 3,000 residents in the tri-county community (especially hard-to-count populations) about the importance of the census”. The final goal, goal three” was “to saturate the tri-county community media outlets with Census information pertinent to their residents”. Through this campaign, we hosted 25 outdoor Census booths, eight interactive community information sessions, an engaging social media campaign, and received coverage in almost 10 newspapers and television outlets.

The North East Texas Counts began the Census season by communicating with key contacts in the community and scheduling large-scale events to educate the community about the Census. We scheduled events at the local community college, library, etc. After the three counties restricted large scale and in-person events, we decided to develop a more robust online training and development process for our interns and volunteers.

We offered numerous outdoor Census education table sessions. However, instead of offering these sessions outside large big-box retailers in the country, we offered these sessions in formats more focused on common pain points experienced by residents of the three counties and safety protocols of the counties. Instead of shopping at big-box retailers, the residents were more focused on shopping in smaller retailers, visiting gas stations, and visiting the post office. As a result, our strategy changed. During this process, we coined the phrase, “from gas stations to grocery stores”, because these were the essential places visited by residents during the pandemic. During this process, we offered information booths outside of gas stations, libraries in each county, Tractor Supply stores, city council areas, and on the side of the major highways. These strategies proved to be very effective because many residents indicated they have not taken the Census before and they did not know the importance of the Census. We were able to provide support for these residents through interactive in-person, on-one-one programming focused on the Census.

Community Communication

The North East Texas Counts team began the Census season by communicating with key contacts in the community and scheduling large-scale events to educate the community about the Census. We scheduled events at the local community college, library, etc. After the three counties restricted large scale and in-person events, we decided to develop a more robust online training and development process for our interns and volunteers.

We offered three pop-up Census education table sessions outside large big-box retailers in the country. During these sessions, participants received USB chargers, Census t-shirts, and USB wall plugs. These technology and apparel items were essential items during the pandemic, because individuals in these areas usually have to travel to larger cities for technology items. People saw our items as they drove on the highways and many turned around to hear about the Census and to receive the items. Many residents commented that they have seen several Census shirts around their town and they wanted to learn more. We did not have any Census t-shirts left after September 30, 2020.

North East Texas Counts Census - Coverage

Quoted in the Texas Tribune. Ura, A. (2020, August 5). An abrupt change to the census deadline shortened the response period by a month, increasing fears of an undercount in Texas. Texas Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.gainesvilleregister.com/news/coronavirus/an-abrupt-change-to-the-census-deadline-shortened-the-response-period-by-a-month-increasing/article_7fe6db5e-d764-11ea-83e8-5710b5af1bd7.html

Quoted by Tarleton State University. Riddle, P. (2019, December). Tarleton professor awarded grant to help count Texans for 2020 census. Tarleton Marketing and Communication. Retrieved from https://www.tarleton.edu/scripts/ press/display.asp?id=6236

Quoted on the Spectrum News in San Antonio and Austin. Spectrum News (2020, August 11), “Census Changes Increase Gears of an Undercount in Texas”. Retrieved from https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/san-antonio/news/2020 /08/12/census-changes-increase-fears-of-an-undercount-in-texas

Quoted in the Panola Watchman. Staff Reports. (2020, January 17). “Tickets on sale for 'Black to the Future' banquet in Carthage”. Retrieved from https://www.panolawatchman.com/general/ tickets-on-sale-for-black-to-the-future-banquet-in/article_0bbd1b80-3705-11ea-a159-9317daf73ab6.html

Quoted in the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Wallace, C. (2020, September 30). “What we could lose:" Changes in census could cost ETX millions”. Tyler Morning Telegraph. Retrieved from https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/ what-we-could-lose-changes-in-census-could-cost-etx-millions/article_a2e688ca-e3d0-11ea-96a5-4bf3b7628d70.html

Quoted in the Panola Watchman. Wieser, S. (2020, June). Fill It Out: U.S. Census important for Panola County funding. The Panola Watchman. Retrieved from https://www.panolawatchman.com/news/fill-it-out-u-s-census-important-for-panola-county-funding/article_0169c0d0-b1a2-11ea-b3f3-e3d2f902f86d.html

This project was one of the TOP projects of my faculty career. It truly changed my life and impacted the way that I see local, state, and federal government. This project ENERGIZED me!

Stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Professor of Communication

Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Rural Communication Institute

My Social Media Channels!
Remember to Follow Me on Twitter! @drjtedwards
I Always Post Higher Education Videos on YouTube
Find Me on Instagram
Engage with Me on Facebook!
Watch My Videos on Twitter Live - http://www.periscope.com/drjtedwards/
Email Me! I am PR Friendly! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com