The SSAINTS Program consists of CSDP members continued work towards ensuring the health and well-being of Vietnamese American older-adults residing in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by a rapid funding mechanism for Tulane students to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak called Sprinting to the Front Lines, generously funded by Celia Weatherhead and the Weatherhead Foundation, the SSAINTS Program partnered with 504HealthNet and United Way of Southeast Louisiana to produce a Vietnamese language video with English subtitles about the COVID-19 vaccine to circulate in the community. The video above explains the differences between available vaccines offered to Americans and debunks misinformation leading to vaccine hesitancy. The goal of the video is to not only educate but to also encourage Vietnamese residents to get vaccinated.
SSAINTS Health Fairs & Events
TThe SSAINTS Program partnered with 504HealthNet, MD Pharmacy, United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Help NOLA Vaccinate, and Resilience Force to conduct a vaccination pop-up event targeting the Vietnamese and Lantix communities on June 27, 2021. The community event was hosted between 10-2pm at MD Pharmacy located at 925 Behrman Hwy., Terrytown, LA 70056. The event offered all three brands of vaccine—Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J—for participants to select to their preference. Those that received a vaccination were given a $20 Walmart gift-card as incentives. Participants also received cloth face masks, hand sanitizer, other health-related items, hurricane preparedness during a pandemic information, water, and snacks. During this event, in addition to COVID-19 vaccination administration, blood pressure screening, glucose testing, and diabetic education were also provided to participants.
The SSAINTS Team recently participated in a drive-thru format health fair targeting Vietnamese older-adults sponsored by the Vietnamese-American Seniors of Greater New Orleans Association (2330 Park Place Dr., Gretna, LA. 70056). The fair welcomed all members of the community on October 18, 2020. Services provided were COVID testing, influenza immunization, and distribution of health and COVID-19 related informational materials. The SSAINTS Program distributed 200 goodies bags consisting of printed informational flyers regarding COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies, COVID-19 myths/facts, face covering etiquette and care, and hurricane preparedness during COVID-19 as well as cloth face masks and hand sanitizers.
CSDP members involved are doctoral student NhuNgoc Pham, GCHB Professor Mai Do, CSDP Assistant Director Cam-Thanh Tran, CSDP Post-Doc Fellow Dr. Trang Nguyen, GCHB Professor Mark VanLandingham, and Asia Studies Adjunct Professor Dr. Kathleen Carlin.
More information can be found here: https://sph.tulane.edu/call-action-ssaints-program, and SSAINTS Program related materials in both English and Vietnamese are available here: https://linktr.ee/tusphtm_ssaints
