In partnership with Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Departments of Family Medicine and Population Health will help build Local Health Equity Action Teams (LHEATs), comprised of community leaders and a new cadre of community health workers (CHWs) to mobilize communities to work together to promote health equity, particularly as it relates to COVID-19, in Kansas.

KUMC activities will include supporting the development of LHEATs in each targeted county to engage diverse stakeholders in shared learning and action to reach communities with less access to COVID-19 services and support. Central to this effort is the role of CHWs who will build trust, support social needs, and advance outreach efforts driven by the LHEATs.