When one of the biggest public health crises in a generation struck in 2020, researchers at UC Merced immediately responded.
COVID-19 has to date killed millions of people, and sickened hundreds of millions more. UC Merced researchers found that even for those who did not suffer critical illness, the virus has impacted food security, mental health, health care access, and other issues. Responses to the pandemic — from the federal economic stimulus to access to vaccines — were not rolled out equitably to some of California’s most vulnerable populations, further exacerbating problems such as mistrust of traditional medicine and inequitable access to care.
Even some of the measures taken to address these challenges fell short of serving those in most need of them: free lunches served at local schools were not of much help to families who didn’t have transportation to get to the campuses, and several economic and health programs excluded immigrant communities.
Many of our research findings were distressing: the pandemic disproportionately impacted people of color and people living in racially segregated communities. Rural residents struggled to access everything from donated food to mental health services. And Latino immigrants, many of whom already faced financial insecurity, found themselves making difficult financial choices.
But some of our work also included finding methods to combat these inequities. UC Merced Public Health faculty worked with local organizations to bring vaccines to where people were, such as places of worship and local flea markets. And another project produced cartoons and videos in Spanish to deliver accurate information about the pandemic in a relatable way that was easy to understand.
Below are highlights of some of the vital COVID-19 research conducted by UC Merced Public Health:
- Professor Sidra Goldman-Mellor published “County-Level Segregation and Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes.” Her research found that racial segregation is associated with higher COVID-19 rates, particularly among Black and Latino residents. Her suggestions included that levels of segregation be factored into decisions about allocations of resources such as testing facilities and vaccination doses.
- Professor Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young led a qualitative study of the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural Latino immigrants. Along with colleague Sidra Goldman-Mellor and graduate student Fabiola Perez-Lua, Young published study findings. One paper described how rural Latino immigrant families faced safety net exclusions during the pandemic. Another paper showed findings that suggest that family-oriented mental health intervention models and ensuring access to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health care for Latino communities may be important for protecting population mental health during health crises.
- Professor Irene Yen collaborated with Gilberto Lopez of Arizona State University on work with a cartoon artist to create short videos in Spanish. COVIDLatino provided users with evidence-based and culturally tailored messaging for Latinos regarding vaccine safety and COVID-19 prevention.
- Professor Nancy Burke led the Merced site of the statewide STOP COVID project, a National Institutes of Health-funded effort to address vaccine hesitancy. Researchers found that some parents were hesitant to vaccinate their children due to distrust of new vaccines and wanting to wait until the children were older. In May 2023, they reported their findings to over 100 stakeholders in Merced County.
The work is far from over. As the long-term impacts of the pandemic continue to unfold, UC Merced Public Health faculty will continue to do research on topics such as mental health, health care access, food security, and immigrant health. And in any health crisis, researchers will continue their active roles in working to improve outcomes for some of the most vulnerable populations.
