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KU team publishes guide for communities to reach overlooked populations in COVID-19 communications
LAWRENCE — The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred many debates about trustworthy sources on health, vaccine safety and testing. A University of Kansas project turned to trusted community leaders across the state to deliver accurate, accessible and culturally appropriate multimedia messages for racial and ethnic minority populations, and KU researchers have now published a step-by-step guide for others to replicate the project.
Office of Faculty Affairs expands to offer more support
LAWRENCE — Mary Banwart, associate professor of communication studies and director of the Institute for Leadership Studies, will join the Office of Faculty Affairs as associate vice provost for faculty development, mentoring and growth. Banwart also currently serves as the program director for the Women’s Global Leadership Consortium at KU.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings
KU team publishes guide for communities to reach overlooked populations in COVID-19 communications
LAWRENCE — The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred many debates about trustworthy sources on health, vaccine safety and testing. Under-resourced communities who have a history of mistrust of government and the health care system were especially challenged in finding reliable information. A University of Kansas project turned to trusted community leaders across the state to deliver accurate, accessible and culturally appropriate multimedia messages for racial and ethnic minority populations, and KU researchers have now published a step-by-step guide for others to replicate the project.
While racial and ethnic communities were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, historical traumas and systematic discrimination had long contributed to a distrust of the government and medical industry. Misinformation about vaccines and testing only exacerbated those challenges. The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics — Underserved Populations, or RADx-UP, was a federally funded project to address those challenges. As part of that project, KU researchers on multiple campuses launched “Community Workers Beat the Virus,” a multimedia campaign that developed videos, social media posts, print and radio ads to address COVID-19 concerns. The campaign was born in early 2020 at a town hall meeting as part of RADx-UP when under-resourced community representatives expressed concerns on how to provide reliable information to their local population.
“In the early days of the COVID pandemic, delayed health communication from official sources —particularly in languages other than English — a disconnect between public health systems and under-resourced communities, and existing mistrust hindered the dissemination of needed health information among the most vulnerable. Community leaders who had the connections and trust of their communities were ideal collaborators and ambassadors for this project,” said Mariana Ramirez, director of JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health at KU Medical Center.
The team engaged community leaders — including community health workers, a school principal and a nun — who delivered messages about testing, dispelled myths about vaccines and shared information on locally available resources. The spots were filmed in recognizable local locations chosen by those featured in the videos and included footage of local families and communities.
In one year, the project produced 46 thirty-second video clips in seven languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Portuguese, Hindi, Nepali and Dzongkha for 10 urban and rural Kansas counties. The project also produced 52 Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram posts in Spanish and English, two print ads in multiple local newspapers and 27 thirty-second radio spots. The videos and social media posts are available on the Juntos KS YouTube channel and the RADx-UP Kansas site.
The research team now has published a step-by-step recounting of “Community Workers Beat the Virus,” detailing information gathering, community leader engagement, budget, evaluation and lessons from the project. The guide, written by Yvonnes Chen, professor of journalism & mass communications at KU; Ramirez; Crystal Lumpkins of the University of Utah; Broderick Crawford of the NBC Community Development Corporation; and Drs. Allen Greiner and Edward Ellerbeck, faculty members at KU Medical Center, was published in the American Journal of Public Health.
“We knew rumors and misinformation were abundant when the vaccines first came out. Our PSAs addressed that with people sharing their stories,” Chen said. “It’s important to use their words to disseminate accurate information. We knew under-resourced communities had a long distrust toward government and the medical system because of historical traumas. Hearing from trusted community leaders and addressing legitimate concerns was a powerful way to share valid information.”
The article also details how the research team developed the infrastructure of local health equity action teams featuring community members, public health workers, social service organizations, clinics and others.
“We wanted to learn more about how we can mobilize communities and invest in their leaders to improve health equity in Kansas,” Chen said. “By being mindful of local, legitimate concerns and reflecting cultural values in our messages, we can tailor communications in a resonant way.”
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Contact: Jill Hummels, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6577, [email protected], @KUProvost
Office of Faculty Affairs expands to offer more support
LAWRENCE — A longtime KU faculty member is bringing her expertise to the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Mary Banwart, associate professor of communication studies and director of the Institute for Leadership Studies, will join the office as associate vice provost for faculty development, mentoring and growth. Banwart also currently serves as the program director for the Women’s Global Leadership Consortium at KU.
In her new role, Banwart will work with academic leaders at KU to support faculty at various stages in their careers. The work will involve design, development and delivery of comprehensive programs to support professional development and personal fulfillment, as well as student outcomes achievement. Assessments and reporting will be conducted to receive faculty input, ensure programs meet faculty needs, benchmark against institutional peers, demonstrate successful outcomes and have broader impact on measures such as faculty satisfaction. Banwart will lead the Center for Faculty Development & Mentoring and will also be involved in review of regulations and policies and development of best practices. In this role, Banwart will team closely with Jenny Mehmedovic, director of Faculty Affairs, who continues her outstanding work with the center.
“In my career at KU, I have had the pleasure of working alongside incredibly talented and dedicated colleagues,” Banwart said. “As academics, we are committed to lifelong learning, which includes continual progress in our profession as scholars and as educators. I’m excited to tailor programming and reduce barriers to help every faculty member succeed and advance throughout their career.”
Banwart’s official duties in the office begin Dec. 11. She will continue to hold a partial appointment in the Institute for Leadership Studies.
As part of her responsibilities, Banwart will also collaborate with a variety of other offices on campus, such as Academic Affairs, the Center for Teaching Excellence, Office of Research, Human Resource Management, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, and others to identify, develop and integrate holistic programming opportunities that meet faculty needs.
“Adding Professor Banwart to the Faculty Affairs team allows us to strengthen and expand our programming and resources for faculty,” said Lou Mulligan, interim vice provost for faculty affairs. “Her expertise in leadership and professional development directly supports our efforts to build skills that connect to larger personal achievement as well as better student outcomes.”
Banwart came to KU in 2002 and has been the faculty director of leadership studies since 2015. Along with her tenure appointment in communication studies, she holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Political Science. Her teaching focus has been in leadership and communication, and political communication. She has been the principal investigator and academic director of the Kansas Women’s Leadership Institute since 2010. The program integrates Kansas students with young women leaders from around the world who take part in academic programming coordinated through the Women’s Global Leadership Consortium and the U.S. Department of State.
Banwart earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from KU, a master’s degree in speech communication from Western Kentucky University and a doctorate in communication from University of Oklahoma.
In addition to working with academic leaders across campus, Banwart will work closely with Mulligan and with Jennifer Ng, associate vice provost, who continues as a highly valued member of the office focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging matters and faculty policy.
“Adding Professor Banwart to Faculty Affairs is the right thing to do to expand support for our current faculty and reflects an investment and commitment from senior KU leaders to support and develop the great talent we have, as well as to recruit new talent to join our ranks,” Mulligan said.
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