RAPID RESPONSE
Partners in Health
Partners In Health (PIH) is disseminating its contact tracing expertise across the US, supporting more than 19 public health departments to not only “flatten the curve,” but bend it downward. The goal: to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in cities and states that are home to an estimated 133 million people, by embedding Technical Advising (TA) teams with governments and community organizations.
Main photo caption: Contact tracing is the process of identifying people who have come into contact with someone who has an infection, so they can be quarantined, supported, and tested until the train of transmission stops. / Shutterstock
Project
Highlights
Partners in Health has embedded TA teams across 10 US jurisdictions, reaching more than 37 million people, while also providing lighter-touch consultations to five jurisdictions that reach another 55 million. Though the work varies with the local context, they have elevated care resource coordination, connecting individuals with social supports to safely quarantine and self-isolate — a critical part of the public health response.
PIH has directly supported the hiring of 4,243 contact tracers and COVID-response community health workers, focusing on recruiting from and serving the hardest-hit communities in partnership with local community-based organizations.
To date, representatives from 102 organizations across 30 states have joined PIH’s Learning Collaborative, which brings together public health practitioners to share and disseminate best practices for community-led COVID response.
“The Audacious Project’s generous support has allowed PIH to leverage decades of global experience fighting epidemics to respond to COVID-19 in the US. With person-centered contact tracing, we’re tackling America’s thorniest battles: the fight against homelessness in Newark; challenges faced by immigrants in Immokalee, and the acute, chronic threats to our brothers and sisters of the Navajo Nation. We are working nationwide to develop shared learning and advocate for systemic change that outlasts COVID.”
