Community utilization of a co-created COVID-19 testing program in a US/Mexico border community

Breanna J Reyes; Stephenie Tinoco Calvillo; Arleth A Escoto; Angel Lomeli; Maria Linda Burola; Luis Gay; Ariel Cohen; Isabel Villegas; Linda Salgin; Kelli L Cain; Dylan Pilz; Paul Watson; Bill Oswald; Cesar Arevalo; Jessica Sanchez; Marjorie Richardson; Jennifer Nelson; Pricilla Villanueva; Garrett McGaugh; Ilya Zaslavsky; Robert H Tukey; Nicole A Stadnick; Borsika A Rabin; Louise C Laurent; Marva Seifert

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20527-4

Community utilization of a co-created COVID-19 testing program in a US/Mexico border community

BMC Public Health. 2024 Nov 18;24(1):3194. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20527-4.

Authors

Breanna J Reyes¹, Stephenie Tinoco Calvillo², Arleth A Escoto², Angel Lomeli^{2

3}, Maria Linda Burola², Luis Gay⁴, Ariel Cohen², Isabel Villegas², Linda Salgin^{4

5}, Kelli L Cain³, Dylan Pilz⁶, Paul Watson⁷, Bill Oswald⁷, Cesar Arevalo⁸, Jessica Sanchez⁸, Marjorie Richardson⁸, Jennifer Nelson⁸, Pricilla Villanueva⁸, Garrett McGaugh⁸, Ilya Zaslavsky⁹, Robert H Tukey¹⁰, Nicole A Stadnick^{11

12

13}, Borsika A Rabin^{3

12}, Louise C Laurent², Marva Seifert¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA. bjreyes@health.ucsd.edu.
² Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
³ Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁴ San Ysidro Health, San Ysidro, CA, USA.
⁵ San Diego State University, University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁶ Kristian Andersen Lab at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁷ The Global Action Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁸ County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁹ San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, Department of Pharmacology, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, United States of America.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹² Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute Dissemination and Implementation Science Center, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹³ Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, University of California, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed several health disparities experienced by underserved and Latino/a communities, including inequitable access to COVID-19 testing.

Objective and goals: To describe the utilization of a community-driven and culturally-tailored testing model on COVID-19 testing in an underserved Latino/a community in San Diego.

Methods: The Community-driven Optimization of COVID-19 testing to Reach and Engage Underserved Areas for Testing Equity (CO-CREATE) project implemented a community co-designed COVID-19 testing program in partnership with a Federally Qualified Health Center in a US/Mexico border community.

Results: Between May 2021 and March 2023, 24, 422 COVID-19 PCR tests were administered to 13,253 individuals, among whom 93% percent identified as Latino/a, 57% spoke Spanish in the home, and 38% resided in our target community adjacent to the US/Mexico border, San Ysidro. Based on a subset of available county testing data, CO-CREATE accounted for nearly 12% of all COVID-19 tests reported for San Ysidro residents. Over the course of the project, we estimated that nearly 17% of all San Ysidro residents were tested for COVID-19 through the CO-CREATE project.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the success and reach of this culturally responsive and community co-designed COVID-19 testing program, within a Latino/a border community. Future public health interventions should focus on identifying testing barriers and design appropriate strategies to ensure equitable access to resources and testing uptake for all community members.

Keywords: Border community; COVID-19 positivity; COVID-19 testing; Co-creation; Culturally responsive; Latino/a.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
COVID-19 Testing* / statistics & numerical data
COVID-19* / diagnosis
COVID-19* / epidemiology
California
Female
Hispanic or Latino*
Humans
Male
Medically Underserved Area
Mexico
Middle Aged
Young Adult

Grants and funding

P42ES010337-20S1/GF/NIH HHS/United States