InsideAPE: Teresa Smith and COVID-19 in Georgia Jails
Category : #WeAreEmoryEPI
Today I caught up with Epi Master’s student Teresa Smith regarding her APE project this summer!
Tell us about your APE project
I am working with Dr. Spaulding and the Center for Health of Incarcerated Persons to surveil the status of COVID-19 in jails across the state of Georgia. We are working with stakeholders at the jails and the Department of Health to ensure that cases are getting properly reported. We are also providing support to jails on best practices for infection control. Incarcerated people make up a vulnerable population in this epidemic both because they are more likely to have co-morbidities that could lead to more severe manifestations of COVID-19 and because it is difficult to practice effective social distancing measures while living in the jails.
How did you find your APE?
I initially signed up to be a volunteer caller for the project but when I found out there may be APE opportunities I reached out to Dr. Spaulding and she took me on!
How has your experience been so far?
It has been great! Most of what I do is coordinate the volunteer caller efforts to the jails. It has been incredible to see the passion that all of the Rollins students as well as nursing and medical students that care deeply about the cause and volunteer an hour or two every week to help us collect good data. One of the many reasons to love the Emory community!
How did you survive lockdown and what’s the first thing you can’t wait to do once it’s safe again?
Thus far, my roommate and I keep our sanity with daily neighborhood walks, weekly banana bread baking, and lots of zoom calls/happy hours with friends! We also bought some porch furniture which was a game-changer. The first thing I’ll do once it’s safe again is probably have a reunion with my undergraduate friends (we had one scheduled in early April).
If you would like to become a volunteer caller on the project, please contact Teresa at teresa [dot] carolina [dot] smith [at] emory [dot] edu!
Stay tuned for the next week’s edition of the Confounder for another #InsideAPE feature!
