The Cherokee Nation Community-Driven Program for Testing and Contact Tracing (Cherokee PROTECT)

Background: The Cherokee Nation Community-Driven Program for Testing and Contact Tracing (Cherokee PROTECT) study united tribal, academic, and community partners under the leadership of the Cherokee Nation (CN) in Northeastern Oklahoma to solve a dire need for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and culturally informed education in underserved and vulnerable rural populations.

Materials/Methods: The study monitored emerging outbreaks and testing uptake through baseline and weekly geographic analysis of electronic health records and publicly available data, administered questionnaires and surveys to participants to identify perceptions of COVID-19 risk, testing, and barriers to testing, and conducted interviews with community leaders to understand community-level barriers and opportunities to increase COVID-19 testing and uptake.

Outcome/Impact: The study provided understanding of testing barriers to improve service delivery by Cherokee Nation Public Health and Cherokee Nation Health Services. In addition, the study generated community-driven solutions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in underserved, at-risk populations, with a model that could be adapted and scaled for other tribal health systems.