Adaptation of a bidirectional crisis and emergency risk communication framework by community-engaged research partnerships in rural Mississippi during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community engagement is important for reaching populations at risk for health inequities in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A community-engaged risk communication intervention implemented by a community-engaged research partnership in Southeast Minnesota to address COVID-19 prevention, testing, and socioeconomic impacts has demonstrated high acceptability, feasibility, perceived efficacy, and sustainability. In this study, we describe the adaptation of the intervention by a community-academic partnership with rural African American populations in three Mississippi counties with high COVID-19 disparities. Intervention reach was assessed by the number of messages delivered by Communication Leaders to members of their social networks. Perceived scalability of the intervention was assessed by the Intervention Scalability Assessment Tool. Bidirectional communication between Communication Leaders and community members within their social networks was used by the partnership to refine messages, meet resource needs, and advise statewide decision-makers. In the first 3 months, more than 8482 individuals were reached in the three counties. The intervention was deemed to be highly scalable by partnership members. Adaptation of a community-engaged pandemic CERC intervention is feasible and scalable, and it has the potential to reduce COVID-19 inequities across heterogeneous populations. This approach may be incorporated into current and future pandemic preparedness policies for community engagement.

Community-Engaged Bidirectional Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication With Immigrant and Refugee Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to assess an intervention that was created by a community-academic partnership to address COVID-19 health inequities. We evaluated a community-engaged bidirectional pandemic crisis and emergency risk communication (CERC) framework with immigrant and refugee populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A 17-year community-engaged research partnership adopted a CERC framework in March 2020 to address COVID-19 prevention, testing, and socioeconomic impacts with immigrant and refugee groups in southeast Minnesota. The partnership used bidirectional communication between communication leaders and their social networks to refine messages, leverage resources, and advise policy makers. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation for intervention acceptability, feasibility, reach, adaptation, and sustainability through multisource data, including email communications, work group notes, semistructured interviews, and focus groups. RESULTS: The intervention reached at least 39 000 people in 9 months. It was implemented as intended and perceived efficacy was high. Frequent communication between community and academic partners allowed the team to respond rapidly to concerns and facilitated connection of community members to resources. Framework implementation also led to systems and policy changes to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee populations. CONCLUSIONS: Community-engaged CERC is feasible and sustainable and can reduce COVID-19 disparities through shared creation and dissemination of public health messages, enhanced connection to existing resources, and incorporation of community perspectives in regional pandemic mitigation policies.

Clinical research during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of virtual visits and digital approaches.

Clinical trials are a fundamental tool in evaluating the safety and efficacy of new drugs, medical devices, and health system interventions. Clinical trial visits generally involve eligibility assessment, enrollment, intervention administration, data collection, and follow-up, with many of these steps performed during face-to-face visits between participants and the investigative team. Social distancing, which emerged as one of the mainstay strategies for reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, has presented a challenge to the traditional model of clinical trial conduct, causing many research teams to halt all in-person contacts except for life-saving research. Nonetheless, clinical research has continued during the pandemic because study teams adapted quickly, turning to virtual visits and other similar methods to complete critical research activities. The purpose of this special communication is to document this rapid transition to virtual methodologies at Clinical and Translational Science Awards hubs and highlight important considerations for future development. Looking beyond the pandemic, we envision that a hybrid approach, which implements remote activities when feasible but also maintains in-person activities as necessary, will be adopted more widely for clinical trials. There will always be a need for in-person aspects of clinical research, but future study designs will need to incorporate remote capabilities.