Community-based groups can be more effective than health care organizations at expanding access to at-home COVID-19 tests in underserved communities, according to a new study.

In a survey of Black and Latino residents in four New Jersey communities with high rates of COVID-19 infection, community-based organizations (CBOs)—such as human service-focused nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—were more effective than health care organizations (HCOs) at increasing awareness of at-home testing availability.

“Although the odds of completing an at-home COVID-19 test were higher for people recruited by HCOs, community-based organizations were significantly more effective at raising awareness of testing opportunities,” says Emily Barrett, an associate professor in the biostatistics and epidemiology department at Rutgers University and lead author of the study in the American Journal of Public Health.

“These results serve to reinforce the value of working with community partners to strengthen health outcomes,” Barrett says.

Little research has been done on strategies to enhance COVID-19 testing in underserved populations, where testing-site locations and hours of operation often serve as barriers to uptake, Barrett says. Moreover, no previous research has examined this issue in the context of at-home testing, she adds.

To fill these gaps, Barrett and colleagues, worked with four HCOs (including the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Rutgers) and 18 CBOs—such as local chapters of the NAACP and the United Way—to develop the New Jersey Healthcare Essential Worker Outreach and Education Study—Testing Overlooked Occupations, or the NJ HEROES TOO program.

NJ HEROES TOO was created to expand access to COVID-19 testing in New Jersey counties with high poverty rates and disproportionate disease burdens.

As part of the project, Barrett and the team conducted a study to evaluate alternative approaches to promoting at-home testing. They asked partners from HCOs and CBOs to recruit Black and Latino people in their communities to complete an online questionnaire about their experiences with COVID-19. Partner organizations could use any means to promote the free testing program, such as social media campaigns and face-to-face interactions.

Read the full article about COVID tests by Patti Verbanas at Futurity.