Autoethnographic Examination of Data-Driven, Community-Tailored COVID-19 Response in Brownsville, Texas

Abstract

The City of Brownsville was made vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic due to high rates of obesity and diabetes, high rates of poverty, and adverse social determinants of health. To address the unique challenges faced by the community, Brownsville’s COVID-19 response brought together the skills of academia with the local understanding and health expertise of the city’s public health department to craft a pandemic response that addressed the specific needs and unique challenges of the residents. This article explores the response partnerships formed and the data-driven, community-oriented campaigns that were designed by the Brownsville Public Health Department. The collaborative partnership of the COVID-19 working group and the innovative dissemination strategies designed by the health department provided an effective method of disease mitigation among the city’s most vulnerable residents. The article demonstrates the impact of the response campaigns by including a resident’s perspective on the impact of the response, specifically how the health department tailored their efforts to meet the needs of the Brownsville community.