North GA - Teresa Costa, MPH, an esteemed Emory Epidemiology Fellow at the North Georgia Health District, has been honored with the prestigious Community Engagement Award from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health for 2024. This accolade is bestowed upon a fellow whose exceptional work embodies the principles of community service, recognizing those who have fostered strong connections between their health district and the community through impactful public health initiatives.
Teresa's remarkable community engagement efforts over the past year included spearheading a collaborative endeavor to develop and implement a critical community needs assessment. Despite the availability of prevention, testing, and treatment resources at low cost through the health department, Cherokee County witnessed a concerning 45% surge in confirmed syphilis cases from 2019 to 2022. This uptick
Rollins Epidemiology Fellowship Community Engagement Award 2024
disproportionately affected historically marginalized populations, including Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic individuals, as well as people from the MSM (men who have sex with men) and PWID (people who inject drugs) populations.
After successfully obtaining The Community Engagement to Strengthen Approaches to Decrease Syphilis Grant from NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials), Teresa played a crucial role in initiating a comprehensive community needs assessment campaign named "Using Community Informed Methods to Reduce Syphilis in Cherokee County" to identify barriers to care. Collaborating with the health district staff and community partners such as Cherokee Focus, the Cherokee County Health Department, and The Living Bridge Center South, a community needs assessment survey was published online and was promoted through paid and unpaid ads on various social media platforms. Additionally, flyers offering access to the survey via a QR Code link were widely distributed. The campaign specifically targeted the historically marginalized populations.
To incentivize participation, individuals were offered a $25 Walmart Gift Card and a Sexual Health Kit containing STI test kits, condoms, and informational QR Code cards. The survey garnered responses from approximately 400 Cherokee County residents, shedding light on key barriers hindering access to essential public health services for syphilis prevention, testing, and treatment.
Analysis of the data revealed that financial constraints, scheduling conflicts, lack of transportation, limited awareness of STIs, and fear of stigma and embarrassment were key factors impeding access to healthcare services. The findings underscored the need for revised public health strategies to enhance accessibility, broaden service outreach efforts both online and offline, and expand the community needs assessment to encompass other counties in the health district.
Ashley Deverell, RN, BSN, district Infectious Disease Director, lauded Teresa's achievement, saying, "Teresa's dedication to community engagement and public health service is truly commendable. Her innovative approach and tireless efforts have made a significant impact on improving healthcare accessibility and awareness in the community."
Let us come together to celebrate Teresa's outstanding achievement and commend her for this well-deserved recognition!