In June 2025, the Multnomah County Health Department Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program leveraged funding from the National Association of County and City Health Officials to host two listening sessions gathering feedback on existing communication materials promoting the COVID-19 and flu vaccines. As the materials were geared toward Black and African adults (including immigrants and refugees), nine members from these communities participated in feedback sessions.  

At the beginning of each listening session, REACH staff opened the discussion by asking the enlisted participants to share their reactions to the National Institute of Health’s definition of a trusted messenger: “A trusted messenger in public health helps us decide what information to believe.”  

The icebreaker question turned into a dynamic and eye-opening twenty-minute conversation among participants, which included clinic-based community health workers and established Black and African community leaders. Almost all participants took issue with the idea of a trusted messenger deciding what a community member should or should not believe. When asked to define the term in their own words, common themes emerged among the group including authentic community engagement, connection, transparency, confidentiality, improved health literacy, and mutual trust. Highlighting the importance of autonomy and education to increase vaccine rates and acceptance, one participant said, “My role as a trusted messenger is to provide information so they can be informed and make decisions based on facts.” For example, one strategy trusted messengers may use is to attend medical appointments with community members and encourage people to ask their medical providers questions.   

Based on these community-driven conversations, REACH intends to promote person-centered and strength-based approaches to health messaging with trusted messengers. The updated approaches will encourage individualized decision-making through factual health literacy and bi-directional communication between providers and community members  

Kara Sydnor, REACH Health Promotion Program Specialist, Multnomah County Health Department