Social and Behavioral Implications for COVID-19 Testing in Delaware's Underserved Communities

The focus of this project was to triangulate data from semi-structured surveys, serology testing and census tract-linked public health and economic data to better understand social and behavioral factors related to COVID-19 testing and vaccine uptake in minority communities, and to develop communication strategies to increase acceptance of testing and vaccination. Social and behavioral factors were identified through a semi-structured survey, based on the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Community Response Survey available from the NIH Public Health Emergency and Disaster Research Response (DR2) platform, and incorporating the common data elements from the RADx CDCC. The survey collected detailed information on participants' medical history and current health, family structure and living
conditions, employment and socioeconomic status, social distancing knowledge and practices, access to health care, presence of symptoms related to COVID-19 in themselves and among their contacts, their history of virus testing and attitudes toward testing, their vaccination history, and their interest in receiving a vaccine. This study was working with community partners to recruit participants from communities which score poorly on Delaware's community health index.