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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to racial disparities in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality; disparities in outcomes have been most pronounced for African Americans who, despite comprising only 13% of the US population account for about 30% of all COVID-19 cases in states for which race-related data are reported.

The best way to control the spread of COVID-19, according to public health experts, is mass adoption of the 3 W’s (Wear a mask, Wait 6 feet apart, and Wash your hands) and increasing COVID-19 immunizations (i.e. vaccine and boosters).

The CREATE Team (Collaborative Research to facilitate Equity, Action, Trust, and Engagement) proposes a crowdsourcing open call to identify ideas for addressing COVID-19 inequities among African Americans in North Carolina.

Purpose

The goal of this call for submissions is to identify innovative and exceptional ideas for addressing COVID-19 inequities, specifically among African Americans in North Carolina. Through this open call, we hope to identify ideas that are community driven and increase engagement in COVID-19 prevention practices. 

Eligibility 

Entries for the open call can be submitted by teams or individuals. Team submissions must include 2 or more individuals.

All individuals (including team members) submitting an idea to the open call must meet the criteria below:

1. All participants must be residents of North Carolina.
2. All participants must be 14 years of age or older.*
*Children under the age of 14 can participate if their team includes their parent or legal guardian.

 

Submission Criteria

You can submit entries using various media (i.e, messages, videos, communication and dissemination strategies). Submissions for the open call must focus on addressing COVID-19 inequities among African Americans in North Carolina, and one of the three following topics.

Submission topics
1. Increasing COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters among African Americans.
2. Promoting the 3 W’s (washing hands, waiting 6 feet apart, and wearing a mask).
3. How do we prevent future pandemics?

Submissions can include one or all of the following:
-text (1-page PDF)
-images (2 MB)
-video (3 minutes).

How to submit

To submit your idea to this open call, please click the link below. We suggest that you prepare a one-page document in advance that addresses the components below. You can then copy and paste this information into the designated box on the submission page. If you experience trouble with the website, you can email submission to create@duke.edu or leave a message on the study phone at 919-660-3467 and someone from the team will assist you with your submission.

  1. A detailed description of your idea. – Explain your motivation and inspiration for this idea.
  2. The relevance of the idea. – Describe how your proposed idea is relevant to one of the three submission topics.
  3. The feasibility of idea. – What’s the likelihood that this intervention could be implemented? Would it work in your community?

The submission deadline is March 31, 2023.

Immunization Concept. Senior man getting vaccinated against influenza or corona virus at health centre. Young female doctor or nurse giving covid-19 vaccine injection to mature male patient
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Judging/Evaluation

Open call entries will be evaluated by various community members across North Carolina. All submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. Accuracy– The proposed idea provides accurate information about COVID-19 and other related topics.
2. Relevance– the proposed idea is relevant to the purpose of the open call, which is to address COVID-19 inequities among African Americans in North Carolina.
3. Feasibility– The intervention can be implemented as proposed with available resources.
4. Innovation– the proposed idea is original or provides a different perspective to an existing concept.

Selection Process
Judges will evaluate and score each submission. The steering committee will review evaluation scores and select finalist for the open call.

Prizes

Prizes will vary and may include gift cards and other merchandise for those receiving high scores. Finalists will receive cash prizes up to $2,500. The selected finalist(s) will be featured on the website and will also have an opportunity to partner with the study team to implement their ideas in a larger campaign across the state of North Carolina.