The Puerto Rico community engagement alliance (PR-CEAL) against COVID-19 disparities: outreach and research engagement efforts in disproportionately affected communities.

In September 2020, the National Institutes of Health acted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing the critical need to combat misinformation, particularly in communities disproportionately affected by the crisis. The Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) emerged as an initiative dedicated to fostering reliable, science-based information, diversity, and inclusion; aiming to implement effective strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 nationwide. One of the teams participating in this initiative is Puerto Rico-CEAL (PR-CEAL). Our whose goal was to raise awareness about the coronavirus disease and advance research, mainly focusing on vulnerable and underserved populations. This concept paper seeks to outline PR-CEAL's infrastructure during its initial two cycles, providing insights into the research and community engagement activities designed to enhance prevention, counter misinformation, and foster awareness and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. Ultimately, our objective is to reflect on the strengths and challenges encountered thus far as we endeavor to sustain this robust infrastructure, addressing ongoing public health issues with a forward-looking approach.

Compliance with Influenza Vaccination and Cervical, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Sample of Women in Puerto Rico: Community Engagement Efforts from PR-CEAL.

OBJECTIVE: There are an estimated 5,570 yearly cancer deaths in Puerto Rico. Breast and colorectal are the most common malignancies among Puerto Rican women. Therefore, prevention and early detection of these cancer types are critical to reducing morbidity and mortality. This study assessed whether women who received the influenza vaccine had increased adherence to cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer screening. METHODS: The Puerto Rico Community Engagement Alliance (PR-CEAL) against COVID-19 Disparities team attended community outreach events throughout Puerto Rico and completed a face-to-face survey among women 18 years or older. The survey gathered demographic information and adherence to influenza vaccination and cervical, breast, and colorectal screening in the past year. The initial sample included 400 women, of whom 347 met the age inclusion criteria (21-74 years). Chi-square tests were used to compare cancer screening adherence according to influenza vaccination status. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of all participants, 47.0% received the influenza vaccine in the past year. Cancer screening rates among vaccinated and non-vaccinated women were as follows: 64.5% vs. and 13.0% vs. 8.0% for colorectal cancer (p-value=0.19). CONCLUSION: Adherence to cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer screening in the past year did not differ by influenza vaccination status. Influenza vaccination appointments may therefore represent a missed opportunity to promote preventative cancer screening in Puerto Rico.