ABSTRACT
At-home COVID-19 testing offers convenience and safety advantages. We evaluated at-home testing in Black and Latino communities through an intervention comparing community-based organization (CBO) and health care organization (HCO) outreach. From May through December 2021, 1100 participants were recruited, 94% through CBOs. The odds of COVID-19 test requests and completions were significantly higher in the HCO arm. The results showed disparities in test requests and completions related to age, race, language, insurance, comorbidities, and pandemic-related challenges. Despite the popularity of at-home testing, barriers exist in underresourced communities. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(S9):S918-S922. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306989).
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Testing , COVID-19 , Humans , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , New Jersey , Hispanic or Latino , Delivery of Health CareABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has underscored longstanding societal differences in the drivers of health and demonstrated the value of applying a health equity lens to engage at-risk communities, communicate with them effectively, share data, and partner with them for program implementation, dissemination, and evaluation. Examples of engagement - across diverse communities and with community organizations; tribes; state and local health departments; hospitals; and universities - highlight the opportunity to apply lessons from COVID-19 for sustained changes in how public health and its partners work collectively to prevent disease and promote health, especially with our most vulnerable communities.