# Social and behavioral implications for COVID-19 testing in Delaware's underrepresented communities

> **NIH NIH P20** · DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $576,907

## Abstract

Summary
Social and behavioral implications for COVID-19 testing in Delaware’s underrepresented communities
 The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on our nation’s stark disparities in health and burden of disease
related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and literacy. Across our nation, the prevalence of the virus is
disproportionately high in minority communities as is the number of COVID-19-related deaths. This project will
triangulate data from semi-structured surveys, serology testing and census tract-linked public health and economic data
to better understand social, behavioral, and ethical factors related to COVID-19 testing in minority communities, and
develop communication strategies to increase acceptance of testing and a future vaccine. Social and behavioral factors
will be identified through a semi-structured survey, based on the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) COVID-19
Community Response Survey available from the NIH Public Health Emergency and Disaster Research Response
(DR2) platform. The survey will collect 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, attitudes toward testing, and interest in receiving a vaccine. Working with community partners we
will recruit participants from communities which score poorly on Delaware’s community health index, and which have
also been hardest hit by the virus. The surveys will be combined with rapid, finger-stick serology tests to assess recent
(previous 2 - 3 months) infection with the virus. After the initial survey and test we will follow the participants over a
12 month period, repeating the survey and serology test every 4 months. Our longitudinal, cohort design will allow us
to track participants’ attitudes and adherence to mitigation behaviors, referral of contacts based on their test results,
and attitudes toward a future vaccine throughout the changing dynamics of the pandemic and public health response
 Delaware State University nursing, social work and psychology students will go to trusted sites in the
communities to administer the serology tests and survey questions to participants. Participants will be given resources
for services as appropriate to their test results and health care needs and will also be compensated for their time and
information. By following participant’s virus-related knowledge, attitudes, testing history and mitigation practices over
time and correlating it with an objective measure of virus exposure, our proposed project will identify strategies to
make testing more accessible and acceptable and to increase use and utility of test results among underserved
populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10232755
- **Project number:** 3P20GM103653-09S1
- **Recipient organization:** DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dorothy Dillard
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $576,907
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-23 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10232755

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10232755, Social and behavioral implications for COVID-19 testing in Delaware's underrepresented communities (3P20GM103653-09S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10232755. Licensed CC0.

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