COVID-19 Testing in Underserved and Vulnerable Populations

Pronounced inequities and disparities in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)COVID-19 morbidity and mortality have been reported, 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, Hispanic/Latino 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 African American and Hispanics 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 CHC partners, their consortium organization (Health Quality Partners), and community stakeholders, investigators 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 adult patients with select medical conditions or those 65 years of age and older receiving care at participating CHCs. Secondarily, investigators will invite all study participants to receive flu vaccination and will assess feasibility and acceptability of study participants to refer adult family household members who are essential workers for COVID-19 testing. 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. This community-engaged project includes underserved (socioeconomically disadvantaged and large proportion of Hispanic/Latinos) as well as COVID-19 vulnerable individuals (patients with medical comorbidities and 65 years of age and older). The approach considers regional COVID-19 morbidity and mortality disparities to identify strategies to address disproportionate infection rates and follow-up. By working in partnership with health care providers, health care system leaders, and community stakeholders, the research team has the potential to build the evidence-base approaches and identify sustainable solutions to understand and address the current and future pandemics in underserved and vulnerable populations.