Using MOST to Optimize an Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Testing for Frontline Essential Workers

COVID-19 testing is essential to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic to break transmission chains and reduce community transmission. However, Black and Latino/Hispanic populations in lower status frontline essential occupations such as food preparation, retail, building maintenance, personal services, and in-home health care have serious barriers to COVID-19 testing and, therefore, insufficient testing rates. The proposed study will use the multiphase optimization strategy framework to address the problem of low COVID-19 testing rates for this population: We will test the effects of four distinct candidate intervention components and then create an efficient multicomponent made up of the most effective combination of the components that can be rapidly scaled up in community settings to boost COVID-19 testing rates.

INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1) age 18-70 years; 2) can engage in study activities in English or Spanish; 3) Black or African American (including Caribbean, African, or multi-ethnic Black) and/or Latino or Hispanic race/ethnicity; 4) resides in NYC; 5) in the past month, was employed as a frontline worker in a lower status essential occupation in one or more of the domains listed above; 6) has a phone that can be used for study participation and can receive TMs; 7) has not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccination in the past 12 months; 8) has not been tested for COVID-19 in the past three months; 9) if previously diagnosed with COVID-19, has not been symptomatic in the past two weeks or 90 days has passed since treatment with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma98; 10) has not been educated/interviewed as a peer for Component C; 11) willing to engage in a core session and be randomly assigned to receive 1-4 components.