Lessons from community during COVID-19: understanding needs and preferences for the development of a disease prevention and health promotion initiative.

Many patients face barriers when it comes to confident healthcare decision making. During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals had to weigh the risks and benefits of potential health risks, and scientists had the challenge of summarizing and communicating risks from various scientific domains. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology combines the concerns and expertise of researchers and community members to improve health. This study aimed to (1) identify topics and methods for delivering health information about COVID-19 through mixed methods of (a) quantitatively examining reasons for and against vaccination and testing and trusted sources of information and (b) qualitatively examining intervention preferences, and (2) to design an intervention based on the needs and preferences of the community and in partnership with community health champions. Quantitative data illustrated concerns related to testing, vaccination, and trust that impacted school community members' willingness to engage in healthy behaviors. Qualitative data demonstrated that key intervention preferences of school community members included transparency of health messaging, messaging from trusted sources of information, desire for general health information, caution with incentives and mandates, and formatting the intervention for the audience. These data informed a customized town-hall style intervention to increase knowledge and confidence in COVID-19 health decision-making for parents. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding community needs, identifying strategies that promote trust, and collaborating with communities to prevent disease, promote health, and enhance health equity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12982-025-01059-7.