COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Among Spanish Speakers

Identifying and Addressing Critical Social, Ethical, and Behavioral Factors Associated With COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Among Spanish Speakers

Latinx communities are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Spanish-speaking Latinx communities carrying even heavier burdens of infection, hospitalization, and mortality. Major barriers to COVID-19 testing and vaccination exist, and a profound need remains to understand and address the social, ethical, and behavioral implications (SEBI) of COVID-19 testing and vaccination within Latinx communities. Our community-academic partnership proposes a rigorous mixed-methods, community-based participatory research study to better understand the SEBI of COVID-19 testing and vaccination and to refine and test a novel and culturally congruent intervention that integrates two evidenced-based strategies - peer navigation and mHealth - to increase COVID-19 testing and vaccination within Spanish-speaking Latinx communities.

A profound need remains to understand the social, ethical, and behavioral implications (SEBI) of COVID-19 testing and vaccination interventions within Spanish-speaking Latinx communities. The proposal is a conceptually integrated community-based participatory research (CBPR) study that includes systematic data collection on the multilevel factors that influence COVID-19 testing and vaccination; refinement of an efficacious intervention that uses complementary theory-based strategies (i.e., peer navigation and mHealth); intervention implementation and evaluation using a longitudinal group-randomized trial design; and dissemination of findings.

Inclusion Criteria: To be eligible to participate in the in the NuestraSaludSegura intervention as a Navegante: participant must self-identify as Hispanic/Latinx participant must be Spanish speaking participant reports having been vaccinated against COVID-19 participant must be ≥18 years of age participant must provide informed consent Inclusion Criteria: To be eligible to participate in the interviews as a Social Network Member: participant must self-identify as Hispanic/Latinx participant must be Spanish speaking participant must be ≥ 18 years of age participant must provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: less than 18 years of age

Rhodes SD, Tanner AE, Mann-Jackson L, Alonzo J, Hall MA, Bertoni AG, McCoy TP, Aguilar-Palma SK, Garcia M, Miranda D, Turner MJ. Increasing COVID-19 testing and vaccination among Spanish speakers in the USA: protocol for the development and evaluation of the Nuestra Comunidad Saludable intervention using a group-randomised trial design. BMJ Open. 2022 Nov 16;12(11):e066585. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066585.