tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
BMJ Open
. 2024 Aug 24;14(8):e087918.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087918. Community-engaged randomised controlled trial to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine-related information and increase uptake among Black individuals in two US cities with rheumatic conditions
Greta Sirek[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daniel Erickson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lutfiyya N Muhammad[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Elena Losina[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Mia T Chandler[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Mary Beth Son[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Monica Crespo-Bosque[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Michael York[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Muriel Jean-Jacques[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Holly Milaeger[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Neil Pillai[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Tonya Roberson[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Anh Chung[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Maxwell Shramuk[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Eseosa Osaghae[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Jessica Williams[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Bisola O Ojikutu[SUP] 4 11 12 [/SUP], Amar Dhand[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 8 [/SUP], Candace H Feldman[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 14 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction: Inequities in COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake among historically marginalised racial and ethnic groups in the USA persist. Individuals with rheumatic conditions, especially those who are immunocompromised, are especially vulnerable to severe infection, with significant racialised inequities in infection outcomes and in vaccine uptake. Structural racism, historical injustices and misinformation engender racial and ethnic inequities in vaccine uptake. The Popular Opinion Lleader (POL) model, a community-based intervention that trains trusted community leaders to disseminate health information to their social network members (eg, friends, family and neighbours), has been shown to reduce stigma and improve care-seeking behaviours.
Methods and analysis: This is a community-based cluster randomised controlled trial led by a team of community and academic partners to compare the efficacy of training POLs with rheumatic or musculoskeletal conditions using a curriculum embedded with a racial justice vs a biomedical framework to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake and reduce vaccine hesitancy. This trial began recruitment in February 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Eligible POLs are English-speaking adults who identify as Black and/or of African descent, have a diagnosis of a rheumatic or musculoskeletal condition and have received >=1 COVID-19 vaccine after 31 August 2022. POLs will be randomised to a 6-module virtual educational training; the COVID-19 and vaccine-related content will be the same for both groups however the framing for arm 1 will be with a racial justice lens and for arm 2, a biomedical preventative care-focused lens. Following the training, POLs will disseminate the information they learned to 12-16 social network members who have not received the most recent COVID-19 vaccine, over 4 weeks. The trial's primary outcome is social network member COVID-19 vaccine uptake, which will be compared between intervention arms.
Ethics and dissemination: This trial has ethical approval in the USA. This has been approved by the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board (IRB, 2023P000686), the Northwestern University IRB (STU00219053), the Boston University/Boston Medical Center IRB (H-43857) and the Boston Children's Hospital IRB (P00045404). Results will be published in a publicly accessible peer-reviewed journal.
Trial registration number: NCT05822219.
Keywords: COVID-19; Health Equity; PUBLIC HEALTH; RHEUMATOLOGY.
. 2024 Aug 24;14(8):e087918.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087918. Community-engaged randomised controlled trial to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine-related information and increase uptake among Black individuals in two US cities with rheumatic conditions
Greta Sirek[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daniel Erickson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lutfiyya N Muhammad[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Elena Losina[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Mia T Chandler[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Mary Beth Son[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Monica Crespo-Bosque[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Michael York[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Muriel Jean-Jacques[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Holly Milaeger[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Neil Pillai[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Tonya Roberson[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Anh Chung[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Maxwell Shramuk[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Eseosa Osaghae[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Jessica Williams[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Bisola O Ojikutu[SUP] 4 11 12 [/SUP], Amar Dhand[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 8 [/SUP], Candace H Feldman[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 14 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39181556
- DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087918
Introduction: Inequities in COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake among historically marginalised racial and ethnic groups in the USA persist. Individuals with rheumatic conditions, especially those who are immunocompromised, are especially vulnerable to severe infection, with significant racialised inequities in infection outcomes and in vaccine uptake. Structural racism, historical injustices and misinformation engender racial and ethnic inequities in vaccine uptake. The Popular Opinion Lleader (POL) model, a community-based intervention that trains trusted community leaders to disseminate health information to their social network members (eg, friends, family and neighbours), has been shown to reduce stigma and improve care-seeking behaviours.
Methods and analysis: This is a community-based cluster randomised controlled trial led by a team of community and academic partners to compare the efficacy of training POLs with rheumatic or musculoskeletal conditions using a curriculum embedded with a racial justice vs a biomedical framework to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake and reduce vaccine hesitancy. This trial began recruitment in February 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Eligible POLs are English-speaking adults who identify as Black and/or of African descent, have a diagnosis of a rheumatic or musculoskeletal condition and have received >=1 COVID-19 vaccine after 31 August 2022. POLs will be randomised to a 6-module virtual educational training; the COVID-19 and vaccine-related content will be the same for both groups however the framing for arm 1 will be with a racial justice lens and for arm 2, a biomedical preventative care-focused lens. Following the training, POLs will disseminate the information they learned to 12-16 social network members who have not received the most recent COVID-19 vaccine, over 4 weeks. The trial's primary outcome is social network member COVID-19 vaccine uptake, which will be compared between intervention arms.
Ethics and dissemination: This trial has ethical approval in the USA. This has been approved by the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board (IRB, 2023P000686), the Northwestern University IRB (STU00219053), the Boston University/Boston Medical Center IRB (H-43857) and the Boston Children's Hospital IRB (P00045404). Results will be published in a publicly accessible peer-reviewed journal.
Trial registration number: NCT05822219.
Keywords: COVID-19; Health Equity; PUBLIC HEALTH; RHEUMATOLOGY.