Archived Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Confidence Among People with Disabilities

Vaccine Access and Confidence Project

This project aims to engage the AUCD national network and partners to:

• facilitate COVID-19 vaccine conversations among members,
• identify barriers to vaccine accessibility,
• increase vaccine confidence,
• share credible COVID-19 vaccination information,
• respond to misinformation,
• translate information into accessible formats, and
• share success stories and lessons learned

Key influencers of people with disabilities will be engaged throughout this effort: families, direct support professionals, and other people with disabilities.

Three components form the project:

1. National community of practice (CoP) shares strategies and creative information dissemination techniques based on local and regional experience. This AUCD-facilitated CoP takes place over a 12-month period and includes 12 AUCD member center/programs across the country: FL – Miami, OH – Cincinnati, MD, MN, MT, NY Einstein, NY-WHID, NY-Rochester, NM, PR, and SD, and Washington, DC. These members of the national CoP leverage existing community work in this area of vaccine confidence in a culturally appropriate approach, with local engagement. AUCD Trainees will be engaged at each center site to support local vaccine confidence materials and message dissemination.
2. Dissemination Innovation Mini-grants conduct targeted outreach and messaging efforts, and adapt messages and materials in local regions across the country, either directly or through community partners or cultural brokers, to support sharing of accessible and credible vaccine information to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence in the disability community. This timely outreach will use upcoming opportunities to engage families, DSPs, and people with disabilities,  such as the weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day or outreach focused on the priority to vaccinate all eligible people with disabilities by the Anniversary of the ADA (7/26)
3. Vaccine confidence materials and message partners, HDI at the University of KY UCEDD and Green Mountain Self-Advocates, share feedback on messages and advise on the communication channels, to include any needed materials and options.