Clinical trial NCT05197452: Increasing COVID-19 Testing in Chicago's African American Testing Desserts
Official title: Alive Church Network: Increasing COVID-19 Testing in Chicago's African American Testing Deserts
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: COVID-19 Pandemic
Lead sponsor: Rush University Medical Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
First posted: 2022-01-19
Enrollment: 2167
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: We established a network of testing sites in African American churches and community sites located in testing deserts in Chicago. Individuals of all ages were eligible for testing. Individuals with a confirmed COVID-19 infection within the past 3 months were ineligible. Testing was open to the public and no appointments were necessary. Testing was offered 5 days per week (at 1 or 2 locations each day) with varying hours of operation to accommodate community member's work and school schedules. There was no limit to the number of times an individual could be tested.

Testing was administered by experienced mobile clinical teams of community health workers and registered nurses from Rush University Medical Center. Participants received COVID-19 education, social determinants of health screening, and free SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This study uses a population-based approach to increase uptake of COVID-19 testing within a highly segregated and underserved African American community in Chicago.

Detailed description: The epidemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused an unprecedented public health crisis in the United States. African Americans (AA) have been disproportionately impacted, as systemic inequities have contributed to increased exposure and vulnerability to COVID-19. Evidence suggests that AAs are delaying testing and care for COVID-19, which increases risk of transmission and poor outcomes. In Chicago, segregated AA neighborhoods have experienced some of the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in the city, yet large portions of these neighborhoods remain testing deserts. Providing trusted, accessible, community-based testing in underserved AA communities is critical to ensuring that AAs receive an early diagnosis, thereby reducing the risk of further transmission and improving clinical outcomes. This study leverages the Alive Church Network (ACN), a long-standing, community-driven coalition of African American pastors and public health researchers that was developed as a sustainable infrastructure to address health inequities in chronic disease in segregated AA neighborhoods in Chicago. The ACN was designed to address lack of access to health care, cultural insensitivity, and lack of trust, which are the root cause of disparities in chronic disease as well as infectious disease, including COVID-19. This project utilizes the ACN infrastructure to create a network of church-based testing sites in a segregated and underserved AA neighborhood in Chicago that will provide COVID-19 testing and education as well as linkage to healthcare and social resources. Pastors who serve predominantly AA congregations on the South Side of Chicago will form a coalition to promote community-wide COVID-19 testing in local churches and church-based events where residents are congregating, such as Sunday church services, food pantries, and other gatherings. Residents of all ages will receive COVID-19 education and free severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing with rapid turn-around of results from an on-site clinical team, as well as connection to local resources to address social needs, including food, housing, and medical care. At-home COVID-19 tests will also be provided to residents for their personal use and to distribute to others in their social network. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of the ACN COVID-19 testing intervention on uptake of testing among residents of target high poverty AA neighborhoods in Chicago.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

• All individuals who request a COVID-19 test, including pregnant women and children of all ages

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 in the prior 3 months

Primary outcomes:
measure: COVID-19 Testing Uptake
timeFrame: Up to 20 months
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
measure: Re-AIM Framework
timeFrame: Up to 6 months after end of study
measure: Needs Assessment
timeFrame: First 2 months of the study prior to the start of the testing intervention
Locations:
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: Rush University Medical Center
state: Illinois
Study officials:
affiliation: Rush University Medical Center
name: Elizabeth Lynch, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: