A study protocol to explore and implement community-based point-of-care COVID-19 testing for women who use drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: The CARE study

Catherine Tomko; Emily Clouse; Katherine Haney; Noya Galai; Katherine Footer; Kadija Ferryman; Katherine Clegg Smith; Susan G. Sherman

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0277605

A study protocol to explore and implement community-based point-of-care COVID-19 testing for women who use drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: The CARE study

Catherine Tomko, Emily Clouse, Katherine Haney, Noya Galai, Katherine Footer, Kadija Ferryman, Katherine Clegg Smith, Susan G. Sherman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Women who use drugs (WWUD) experience structural vulnerabilities (e.g., housing, food insecurities) and comorbidities that elevate their susceptibility to more severe COVID-19 symptoms or fatality compared to similarly-aged women who do not use illicit drugs. Testing is a cornerstone of effective COVID prevention, however, entrenched barriers to healthcare utilization means that WWUD may have diminished accessing to COVID testing. The CARE (COVID Action Research Engagement) study first examines predisposing and enabling factors that predict COVID testing uptake over six months (baseline, 3-, and 6-month follow-up) among a cohort of WWUD (N = 250) in Baltimore, Maryland, providing a nuanced and holistic understanding of how to meaningfully engage WWUD in COVID testing. Then, point-ofcare COVID testing will be implemented on a mobile outreach van affiliated with a local community- based organization primarily serving WWUD; anonymous surveys of mobile outreach guests (N = 100) will assess feasibility and acceptability of this integrated testing. The study is grounded in the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations and the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. We hypothesize that point-of-care COVID testing integrated into a low-barrier harm reduction service, such as a mobile outreach program, will be an enabling environment for COVID testing uptake in part by reducing structural impediments to testing and will be highly feasible and acceptable to participants. Strengths, limitations, and plans for results dissemination are discussed.

Original language	English
Article number	e0277605
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	17
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277605
State	Published - Dec 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Tomko et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

Humans
Female
Aged
HIV Infections/drug therapy
COVID-19/diagnosis
COVID-19 Testing
Baltimore
Point-of-Care Systems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1371/journal.pone.0277605

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title = "A study protocol to explore and implement community-based point-of-care COVID-19 testing for women who use drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: The CARE study",

abstract = "Women who use drugs (WWUD) experience structural vulnerabilities (e.g., housing, food insecurities) and comorbidities that elevate their susceptibility to more severe COVID-19 symptoms or fatality compared to similarly-aged women who do not use illicit drugs. Testing is a cornerstone of effective COVID prevention, however, entrenched barriers to healthcare utilization means that WWUD may have diminished accessing to COVID testing. The CARE (COVID Action Research Engagement) study first examines predisposing and enabling factors that predict COVID testing uptake over six months (baseline, 3-, and 6-month follow-up) among a cohort of WWUD (N = 250) in Baltimore, Maryland, providing a nuanced and holistic understanding of how to meaningfully engage WWUD in COVID testing. Then, point-ofcare COVID testing will be implemented on a mobile outreach van affiliated with a local community- based organization primarily serving WWUD; anonymous surveys of mobile outreach guests (N = 100) will assess feasibility and acceptability of this integrated testing. The study is grounded in the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations and the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. We hypothesize that point-of-care COVID testing integrated into a low-barrier harm reduction service, such as a mobile outreach program, will be an enabling environment for COVID testing uptake in part by reducing structural impediments to testing and will be highly feasible and acceptable to participants. Strengths, limitations, and plans for results dissemination are discussed.",

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AU - Sherman, Susan G.

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A study protocol to explore and implement community-based point-of-care COVID-19 testing for women who use drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: The CARE study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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