Pronounced inequities and disparities in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)COVID-19 morbidity and mortality have been reported among Black and Latinx individuals, largely due to comorbid conditions and social determinants of health. Approximately 95% of COVID-19 related deaths occur among individuals with underlying medical conditions. Of all racial/ethnic groups, Latinx communities in San Diego County have experienced the greatest burden of COVID-19 disease and deaths. Furthermore, testing challenges to date are evident, including long turnaround of test results and longer waiting times for Black and Latinxs compared to whites. The goal of this community-engaged proposal is to develop, test, and evaluate a rapid, scalable capacity building project to enhance COVID-19 testing in three regional community health centers (CHCs) in San Diego County. In collaboration with our CHC partners, their consortium organization (Health Quality Partners), and community stakeholders, we propose the following Specific Aims: 1) Compare the effectiveness of automated and live prompts and reminders and their combination for uptake of COVID-19 testing among asymptomatic adult patients with select medical conditions and those 65 years of age and older receiving care at participating CHCs. We also will invite all study participants to: a) receive a flu vaccination; and b) assess feasibility and acceptability of study participants to refer adult household members who are essential workers for COVID-19 testing; and 2) Gather patient, provider, CHC leadership, and community stakeholder insights to establish best practices for future scale-up of COVID-19 testing sustainability and vaccination. Our goal is to test 9,000 patients (3,000 per arm). Our community-engaged project includes underserved (socioeconomically disadvantaged and large proportion of Hispanic/Latinos) and COVID-19 vulnerable individuals (patients with medical conditions and those 65 years of age and older). Our approach considers regional COVID-19 morbidity and mortality to address disproportionate infection and death rates among vulnerable and marginalized populations who bear a disproportionate burden of the pandemic.
Pronounced inequities and disparities in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) morbidity and mortality exist and testing challenges are evident, particularly among Black and Latinxs compared to whites. This community- engaged testing project will develop, test, and evaluate a rapid, scalable capacity building to enhance COVID- 19 testing in asymptomatic high-risk patients in three regional community health centers. Our approach considers regional COVID-19 morbidity and mortality to address disproportionate infection and death rates in our region?s vulnerable and marginalized communities.
