The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and functions as the local public health department for the city of Boston. BPHC’s mission is to protect, preserve, and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly the most vulnerable populations. The Mayor’s Office of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the largest cabinet in the city of Boston with ten departments and offices that span work across multiple communities all striving to create a healthier Boston. Committed to promoting and ensuring the health and well-being of the city’s most vulnerable residents, HHS provides a wide array of critical programs and services all while advocating for systemic change to tackle root causes of some of the most pressing challenges in the city of Boston.
Background:
Across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately harming Black, Latinx, Asian, and indigenous peoples, and immigrants—hitting these communities first and worst, and reflecting broader public health, economic, and environmental inequities in the United States. These disparate impacts exist for many reasons, with communities of color often being in more densely populated areas that, because of a history of discriminatory housing policies, have fewer resources and amenities. People of color are also more likely to qualify as essential workers, holding jobs in transportation, healthcare, food, and service fields, and frequently relying on public transit to get to their jobs. Vulnerable communities also have lower access to healthcare coverage and, overall, less wealth to rely on if they get sick. Cities seeking to curb these inequities during and after the pandemic will need to confront underlying problems, coordinate multiple city services and departments, and actively engage with the non-profit, public, private, and philanthropic sectors. From the beginning of the City’s fight against COVID-19, Mayor Walsh has prioritized those most likely to be impacted by the virus and has ensured the City doesn’t lose sight of those who need us the most. The Mayor’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force was convened to provide guidance to the City on the current public health crisis. Mayor Walsh further highlighted health inequities in the City by declaring racism a public health crisis. In partnership with COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force, a consultant was hired to develop the Boston Health Equity NOW Plan (“the plan”). This plan will focus on short term, middle term and long-term strategies to address health inequities in the City of Boston. The plan will specifically focus on the root causes of the inequities that cause disparities in health outcomes for our residents.
Scope of Work:
The Mayor’s Office of Health and Human Services and the Boston Public Health Commission are seeking vendor(s) with extensive knowledge and experience working with Boston’s diverse communities to co-develop creative, culturally competent, and linguistically appropriate content that engage and effectively reach Boston’s communities of color with emphasis on the Latinx community, while enabling the City to amplify key messages. The chosen communications/marketing firm will work alongside the team crafting the plan to produce the following deliverables:
− Develop culturally competent communication strategies and messages specific to:
− Inequities that exist with COVID-19 as reopening continues and expands.
− Equity and inclusion as it relates to Boston Health Equity NOW Plan and related efforts focused on racism as a public health crisis.
− Accessing COVID-19 specific services including testing, tracing and isolation. This also includes prevention messaging related to physical distancing, facial covering, and other preventive measures.
− Create messaging/content and design products for multiple communication channels, i.e. social media, print ads, radio, and other vehicles that ensure target communities are receiving information on preventing COVID-19. Scope includes the design of templates for ads, script for radio, etc.
The selected consultant will attend meetings in collaboration with the Health Inequities Task Force and additional partners to co-create messaging and efforts related to the plan.
Qualified vendors may submit required documents in one PDF file by Email to: Marta Rivera Chief of Staff Mayor’s Office of Health & Human Services Marta.Rivera@Boston.gov Subject of the email must contain “company/vendor name – COVID-19 Consultant Support” Note: Any risks associated with the electronic transmission of responses to this RFQ is assumed by the vendor Quotes must be received no later than 5:00 PM Friday, July 31, 2020
Due Date:
Friday, July 31, 2020 by 5:00pm
Address:
Marta Rivera Chief of Staff Mayor’s Office of Health & Human Services Marta.Rivera@Boston.gov
Relevant agencies to consider include Zeno group and Ruder Finn.