$3,761,027 RADx – UTX Health Science Center
Aaron was a key member of the team that prepared a winning grant proposal, awarded to the University of Texas Health Science Center (School of Public Health).
Building on the partnerships and resources of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), the goal of the study is to identify dynamic disease hotspots and testing deserts, in racially diverse regions of the target regions, to inform the development and evaluation of multilevel level just-in-time adaptive intervention strategies to reach individuals with medical comorbidities and whose demographic category and/or living condition (African American, Hispanic, rural, and homeless) are known to increase risk of severe COVID-19 infection. In collaboration with community partners, this project will:
1) Identify disparities and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 testing and infections in three Texas regions by (i) estimating real-time testing availability and uptake patterns utilizing data from regional health departments and hospital records; (ii) estimating real-time disparities in incidence rate and test positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19, and (iii) identifying, characterizing and predicting dynamic disease hotspots and testing deserts in vulnerable communities utilizing spatial-temporal modeling approaches
2) Identify personal, organizational, community, and structural factors contributing to the SARS CoV2-testing disparity by examining (i) interorganizational networks and network-related barriers and (ii) facilitators influencing the effective implementation of providing needed healthcare services to optimize local COVID-19 related service delivery system through the effective resource allocation.
3) implement a multilevel intervention that increases access to testing (clinician-collected and self-sampling) and referrals to follow up care among vulnerable populations. The project will include a randomized trial to evaluate the reach, effectiveness and implementation of the Community level Just In Time Adaptive Intervention to increase SARs CoV2 testing in identified high risk priority neighborhoods. The project’s efforts will be enabled by leveraging long-standing community partnerships.
