Community Organizations, Local Health Equity Action Teams, and a Learning Collaborative to Address COVID-19...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Equity
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted disparities in testing access and communication, particularly in underserved populations.
• The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program aimed to address these challenges through community-level interventions.
• Kansas counties participated in a statewide initiative to enhance diagnostic strategies and public health messaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the implementation of local health equity action teams (LHEATs) in improving COVID-19 testing and communication in underserved Kansas counties.
• To assess the impact of the RADx-UP intervention on COVID-19 testing strategies and outcomes.
• To document the process of fostering communication and sharing best practices among participating counties.

Main Methods:

• Formation of Local Health Equity Action Teams (LHEATs) across 10 Kansas counties from November 2020 to June 2022.
• Development and implementation of tailored COVID-19 testing strategies within participating communities.
• Establishment of a learning collaborative to facilitate communication, share best practices, and adapt to emerging challenges.

Main Results:

• Participating counties reported a significant number of distinct COVID-19 testing (693) and communication (178) activities.
• The intervention was not statistically associated with changes in the proportion of positive COVID-19 tests.
• LHEATs successfully implemented novel testing strategies and demonstrated adaptability in response to evolving public health needs.

Conclusions:

• The RADx-UP Kansas initiative successfully engaged local teams in developing and implementing COVID-19 testing and communication strategies.
• While direct impact on test positivity rates was not observed, the program fostered adaptive capacity and the adoption of new public health practices.
• The learning collaborative model proved effective for sharing knowledge and responding to the dynamic nature of the pandemic in underserved areas.