NOAH member Marcel Foster just shared a new publication and the first official publication from Performance Hypothesis.
Led by Brianna Smith, MPH, this paper reports on arts engagement and culturally responsive evaluation using ethnographic observations to report on the impact of multiple years of collaborating with Out Of Hand Theater.
Yes, this multi-year program was defunded just last month as part of ongoing cuts. But the impact remains the same. Uplifted with hope from CREA just last week (Culturally Responsive Evaluation & Assessment Conference) — these findings are an important contribution to how the arts can and should be leveraged in evaluation.
Abstract
Despite pronounced disparities in COVID-19 cases and mortality among communities of color in the United States, and vaccines being a potentially lifesaving prevention measure, vaccination rates are still lower among racial minorities, especially Black people, compared to White people. Reasons such as distrust in the U.S. government and healthcare system underlie vaccine deliberation, which contributes to low vaccine uptake among Black people. The creative and community-based program, “Equitable Vaccines,” uses the arts to address vaccine deliberation and boost vaccine confidence among Black people in rural Georgia. Program facilitators implemented vaccine events, bringing together community members to view an artistic asset (e.g., creative short film) and engage participants in candid conversations surrounding COVID-19 and vaccine deliberation. Subsequently, participants were invited to receive a COVID vaccine and complete a brief online post-event survey. Program facilitators also reported their observations and interactions with participants via an Asana post-event report. An analysis of these fieldnotes highlights the community’s evolving experiences with COVID-19, the vaccine, and reasons for vaccine deliberation between late 2021 and 2024. Findings revealed that mistrust in U.S. institutions and systems and misinformation was a prominent theme across the entire program duration, but there was also a shift toward motivation for getting vaccinated toward the latter part of the program. We recommend using creative and culturally responsive techniques in designing, implementing, and evaluating public health interventions to address vaccine deliberation and other public health concerns in Black communities across the United States.