Columbia World Projects (CWP) has concluded two groundbreaking projects aimed at addressing critical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two-year projects, originating during the COVID-19 pandemic, focused on mitigating the impact of related grief in Harlem's Black community and developing digital tools for populations experiencing high rates of mental health conditions due to the pandemic. Both projects have made a significant contribution to our understanding of both the impact of COVID on specific communities and targeted strategies for improving access to care.
The first project, "Confronting COVID-19 Loss in Harlem," revealed that experiences of COVID-19, compounded by historical racism, systemic racism, and ongoing racial trauma, impact grief among Harlem residents. Community collaboration was found to be an asset and protective factors for coping with grief included memorials, funerals, and community solidarity. This work underscored the importance of examining the differences in experiences of prolonged grief in Black communities and incorporating community members from a wide range of backgrounds into COVID-19 and grief research and the design of therapeutic interventions.
The project partnered Columbia and University of Pennsylvania researchers and students with local faith-based and community leaders to address intense and pervasive grief that has emerged as a result of the pandemic. The project adapted digital tools such as apps and videos to address prolonged grief disorder, a form of grief that is unusually intense, enduring, and pervades everyday life. The insights from focus groups and online narratives were used to adapt the Center for Prolonged Grief’s digital tools to better serve the Black community. The modified digital tools will be further refined and disseminated across Harlem and other communities grappling with similar challenges.
The second project, "Digital Mental Health Care for COVID-19 High-Risk Populations," addressed the overwhelming impact of the pandemic on the mental health of health care and essential workers, who were disproportionately affected during the pandemic. The project developed and tested seven digital mental health videos to address increased rates of anxiety and stress among essential and healthcare workers and encourage them, when appropriate, to seek treatment. The interventions succeeded in immediately and significantly decreasing viewersʼ stigma toward their own mental health and increased their openness to seeking care. These effects were heightened among Black people and women when viewers watched videos with protagonists who shared these demographic characteristics, suggesting that emotional engagement plays a major role in the efficacy of video-based interventions.
Dr. Wafaa El Sadr, Executive Vice President, Columbia Global and Director, Columbia World Projects, shared her optimism on the conclusion of the projects, “What’s remarkable about both of these projects is that they have identified concrete tools and methodologies for helping us heal from the trauma of COVID.”
As next steps, the Confronting COVID-19 Loss in Harlem project will continue its adaptation of the Center for Prolonged Grief’s suite of prolonged grief disorder therapy tools to better support the needs of Black communities in Harlem. A consortium of universities and community partners has been established to further cross-disciplinary learning and teaching about grief in the Black community and a documentary on Black grief is underway with plans for community dissemination. The team will continue to collaborate with Mobilizing Preachers And Communities -NY (MPAC-NY) and explore the potential to expand this research in Harlem, as well as to other cities, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
The Digital Mental Health Care for COVID-19 High-Risk Populations project plans to examine the effect of brief video interventions among different racial and ethnic groups and people of different socio-economic statuses and educational levels. It will also look at whether referrals to mental health care could result in viewers that need it to seek treatment. The team hopes to further disseminate the videos and assess their reach via social media platforms, and through the ongoing partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health.
The core elements of CWP initiatives include being led by interdisciplinary faculty and researchers in partnership with government practitioners, nonprofits and communities, and designed to make a specific and measurable impact on a particular global challenge – in this case the rapid emergence of COVID-19 and the deep impact on particular communities across the country.
“These COVID-19 projects capture the tremendous power in collaboration and collective action to address our biggest challenges, recognizing that mutual reliance is key to our future wellbeing.” -Dr. Melissa Begg, Dean of the Columbia School of Social Work
About Columbia World Projects
Columbia World Projects mobilizes the university’s researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses and communities to tackle global challenges.
We are part of Columbia Global, established July 2022, which brings together major initiatives from across the university to advance knowledge and foster global engagement to address complex global challenges. As of July 2023, Columbia Global comprises CWP, the Columbia Global Centers, the Committee on Global Thought, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.