Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 24, 2025
08:26
Large-Scale SARS-CoV-2 Testing Utilizing Saliva and Transposition Sample Pooling
Published on: June 23, 2022
1.8K
Building School-Academic Partnerships to Implement COVID-19 Testing in Underserved Populations
Jennifer L Goldman1,2, Ibukunoluwa C Kalu3,4, Jennifer E Schuster1,2
1Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri.
Pediatrics
|July 2, 2023
Summary
School partnerships facilitated COVID-19 testing for vulnerable students. Key strategies included adapting approaches to community needs and maintaining regular communication with school staff to ensure effective infectious disease testing programs.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Health Services Research
Background:
- The US government invested in school-based COVID-19 mitigation, including diagnostic testing, to ensure a safe return to school in April 2021.
- However, the accessibility and uptake of COVID-19 testing among vulnerable children and those with medical complexities were not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the implementation and enrollment of COVID-19 testing programs within schools.
- To identify and rank key implementation strategies for infectious disease testing in schools, particularly for vulnerable populations and children with medical complexities.
Main Methods:
- The study utilized a modified Nominal Group Technique to survey program leads involved in the NIH's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations program.
- Program leads identified and ranked strategies for implementing infectious disease testing in school settings.
Main Results:
- Of 11 surveyed programs, 36% included early care education, 73% served socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, and 4 focused on children with developmental disabilities.
- A total of 81,916 COVID-19 tests were conducted.
- Key implementation strategies identified included adapting testing to meet population needs and guidelines, regular communication with school leadership, and assessing community needs.
Conclusions:
- School-academic partnerships were effective in delivering COVID-19 testing to vulnerable children and those with medical complexities by employing tailored approaches.
- Further research is necessary to establish best practices for school-based infectious disease testing for all children.
