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The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated acceptance of learning from other countries, especially for high-income countries to learn from low- and middle-income countries, a practice known as global learning. COVID-19’s rapid disease transmission underscored how connected the globe is as well as revealed stark health inequities which facilitated looking outside of one’s borders for solutions. The Global Learning for Health Equity (GL4HE) Network, supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, held a 3-part webinar series in December 2021 to understand the current state of global learning and explore how global learning can advance health equity in the post-COVID-19 era. This paper reflects on these cutting-edge discussions about the current state of global learning, drawing upon the highlights, perspectives, and conclusions that emerged from these webinars. The paper also comments on best practices for global learning, including adapting for context, addressing biases, funding considerations, ensuring bidirectional partnerships, community engagement, and adopting a multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical mistrust among the public was amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic due to racial and social inequities in infection rates and misinformation in the media. In Boston, two initiatives were launched by the Boston University Clinical Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI), Boston Medical Center (BMC), community health centers (CHCs), and community organizations to establish longitudinal and authentic partnerships with community-research boundary spanners who remained trusted sources of information. Each initiative addressed the immediate need for community-informed and partnered COVID research and provided a structure for longitudinal partnerships. In this paper, we describe the process of envisioning how these two initiatives could move from isolation toward collective impact. We also identify opportunities to improve community-engaged research practices within an academic health system. Our approach provides a structure that other organizations can use to align initiatives and move toward boundary-crossing partnerships which foster health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first explores spatial distributions and patterns of COVID-19 case rates (cases/100,000 people) and mortality rates (deaths/100,000 people) and their disparities between urban and rural counties in the contiguous US. A county-level social vulnerability index was created using principal component analysis. Social vulnerability components were regressed against both county case and mortality rates. Results suggest that hotspots of case and mortality rates are clustered in Midwest and Upper-Midwest US. We found substantial disparities in case and mortality rates between urban and rural counties. County social vulnerability was positively correlated with both case and mortality rates suggesting counties with higher social vulnerability had higher case and mortality rates. Relationships between social vulnerability components and case and mortality rates vary across the conterminous US. Additionally, counties with increased racial and ethnic minorities, higher percentages of minors, and lower median household income are associated with higher COVID-19 case and mortality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]