Skip to main content
Journal cover image

You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations.

Publication ,  Journal Article
D'Agostino, EM; Rosenberg, LM; Richmond, A; Damman, A; Brown-Lowery, C; Abbot-Grimes, P; Siddiqui, S; Fadika, T; Ward, M; Cooper, M; Sutton, S ...
Published in: BMC Public Health
October 28, 2023

BACKGROUND: Infections and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected underserved populations. A community-engaged approach that supports decision making around safe COVID-19 practices is needed to promote equitable access to testing and treatment. You & Me: Test and Treat (YMTT) will evaluate a systematic and scalable community-engaged protocol that provides rapid access to COVID-19 at-home tests, education, guidance on next steps, and information on local resources to facilitate treatment in underserved populations. METHODS: This direct-to-participant observational study will distribute at-home, self-administered, COVID-19 testing kits to people in designated communities. YMTT features a Public Health 3.0 framework and Toolkit prescribing a tiered approach to community engagement. We will partner with two large community organizations, Merced County United Way (Merced County, CA) and Pitt County Health Department (Pitt County, NC), who will coordinate up to 20 local partners to distribute 40,000 COVID tests and support enrollment, consenting, and data collection over a 15-month period. Participants will complete baseline questions about their demographics, experience with COVID-19 infection, and satisfaction with the distribution event. Community partners will also complete engagement surveys. In addition, participants will receive guidance on COVID-19 mitigation and health-promoting resources, and accessible and affordable therapeutics if they test positive for COVID-19. Data collection will be completed using a web-based platform that enables creation and management of electronic data capture forms. Implementation measures include evaluating 1) the Toolkit as a method to form community-academic partnerships for COVID-19 test access, 2) testing results, and 3) the efficacy of a YMTT protocol coupled with local resourcing to provide information on testing, guidance, treatment, and links to resources. Findings will be used to inform innovative methods to address community needs in public health research that foster cultural relevance, improve research quality, and promote health equity. DISCUSSION: This work will promote access to COVID-19 testing and treatment for underserved populations by leveraging a community-engaged research toolkit. Future dissemination of the toolkit can support effective community-academic partnerships for health interventions in underserved settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05455190 . Registered 13 July 2022.

Duke Scholars

Published In

BMC Public Health

DOI

EISSN

1471-2458

Publication Date

October 28, 2023

Volume

23

Issue

1

Start / End Page

2121

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vulnerable Populations
  • Stakeholder Participation
  • Public Health
  • Pandemics
  • Observational Studies as Topic
  • Humans
  • Health Promotion
  • Community Participation
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
D’Agostino, E. M., Rosenberg, L. M., Richmond, A., Damman, A., Brown-Lowery, C., Abbot-Grimes, P., … Hornik, C. (2023). You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2121. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16960-6
D’Agostino, Emily M., Lauren M. Rosenberg, Alan Richmond, Allyn Damman, Camille Brown-Lowery, Princess Abbot-Grimes, Saira Siddiqui, et al. “You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations.BMC Public Health 23, no. 1 (October 28, 2023): 2121. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16960-6.
D’Agostino EM, Rosenberg LM, Richmond A, Damman A, Brown-Lowery C, Abbot-Grimes P, et al. You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations. BMC Public Health. 2023 Oct 28;23(1):2121.
D’Agostino, Emily M., et al. “You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations.BMC Public Health, vol. 23, no. 1, Oct. 2023, p. 2121. Pubmed, doi:10.1186/s12889-023-16960-6.
D’Agostino EM, Rosenberg LM, Richmond A, Damman A, Brown-Lowery C, Abbot-Grimes P, Siddiqui S, Fadika T, Ward M, Cooper M, Sutton S, Kenton L, Spaziano B, Kasper J, Barnes N, Hornik C. You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations. BMC Public Health. 2023 Oct 28;23(1):2121.
Journal cover image

Published In

BMC Public Health

DOI

EISSN

1471-2458

Publication Date

October 28, 2023

Volume

23

Issue

1

Start / End Page

2121

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vulnerable Populations
  • Stakeholder Participation
  • Public Health
  • Pandemics
  • Observational Studies as Topic
  • Humans
  • Health Promotion
  • Community Participation
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19