COVID-19 Testing and Social Determinants of Health Among Disadvantaged Baltimore Neighborhoods: A Community Mobile Health Clinic Outreach Model

Abstract

The objective was to summarize data on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing uptake, social determinants of health, and patient satisfaction with mobile health clinic services within underserved minority and low-income communities. This COVID-19 pilot project was conducted during June and July 2020 in lowincome residential neighborhoods in West Baltimore, Maryland. Quantitative data were collected and assessed cross-sectionally. Demographically, 85% of the patients identified as Black or African American (n = 265) and 58.2% as female (n = 184). The COVID-19 test was administered by the registered nurse to 78.2% (n = 288) of the patients. More than 90% of patients confirmed high levels of satisfaction with the services they received from the community mobile health clinic. Social determinants were assessed and females reported significantly worse health literacy than their male counterparts (P < 0.05). Study findings suggest that the community mobile health clinic model was effective in attracting hard-to-reach and marginalized individuals, who otherwise may have gone untested or undiagnosed. This care delivery model can be one solution to disparities by improving access to COVID-19 testing and primary care for communities with higher vulnerability to COVID-19 complications.

Effectiveness of a COVID-19 Testing Outreach Intervention for Latinx Communities

“… 16 Reducing testing barriers and overcoming health disparities for Latinx communities require culturally responsive interventions, including not requiring health insurance, physician orders, identification, or fees and offering walk-up service. 15 , 17 Although several programs to reduce barriers to SARS-CoV-2 testing for Latinx communities exist, 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 to our knowledge, this is the first randomized trial to evaluate strategies designed to accelerate SARS-CoV-2 testing among Latinx populations. On the basis of the community-based participatory intervention development and literature reviewed, we hypothesized that intervention ( promotores ) sites would be associated with higher numbers of Latinx individuals tested over time per site relative to county and community outreach as usual (OAU) and a higher proportion of the Latinx populace tested compared with control sites.…”

“…13 Underrepresentation of Latinx communities in testing is influenced by factors such as lack of understanding of available resources, language barriers, and access challenges. 14,15 For immigrant, migrant, and Indigenous Latinx individuals, lack of trust in institutions and misinformation also reduce the likelihood of testing. 16 Reducing testing barriers and overcoming health disparities for Latinx communities require culturally responsive interventions, including not requiring health insurance, physician orders, identification, or fees and offering walk-up service.…”

“…Underrepresentation of Latinx communities in testing is influenced by factors such as lack of understanding of available resources, language barriers, and access challenges . For immigrant, migrant, and Indigenous Latinx individuals, lack of trust in institutions and misinformation also reduce the likelihood of testing .…”

A Community-Based Management of COVID-19 in a Mobile Container Unit

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, the burgeoning need for testing, vaccine delivery, and management of SARS-CoV-2-induced respiratory disease has highlighted the utility of relocatable clinics with enhanced infection control. For instance, the mobile clinic paradigm has been applied to manage the COVID-19 crisis in a multitude of settings: it has been deployed to provide primary care and COVID-19 testing to migrant farm workers in Iowa [19], monoclonal antibody infusion to patients in nursing homes and long-term care facilities [20], and COVID-19 testing in a disadvantaged Baltimore neighborhood [21].…”

Effectiveness of a web‐based partnership support program for preventing decline in the quality of life of male patients undergoing infertility treatment: A quasi‐experimental study

“…The declining sperm counts in men around the world, including North America, Europe, and Australia, have been considered a public health issue (Levine et al, 2017). Compared with women, men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as smoking and drug use, and are more likely to have an unhealthy diet (Baker et al, 2021). Men also tend to have lower health literacy levels and are less likely to seek health information and use healthcare services than women (Rao et al, 2022).…”