# RADx-UP: Improving the Response of Local Urban and Rural Communities to Disparities in Covid-19 Testing

> **NIH NIH UL1** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $3,755,728

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Local health departments are employing widely varying approaches to address the dramatic health inequities
associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning collaboratives have been effective in other settings for
bringing entities together to support joint problem solving and reduce variance in approach. These
collaboratives build upon shared experiences to help their members understand not only what to do but how to
do it, providing knowledge and skills that are critical to successful implementation of interventions. This study
aims to examine the effectiveness of a diverse, regional learning collaborative of health departments that will
rapidly adapt, test, and implement community-driven solutions for COVID testing disparities using a pragmatic,
hybrid type II trial design. Based on preliminary data from a community-led approach developed in a severely
affected Kansas county (Wyandotte), the project will build Local Heath Equity Action Teams in 10 counties (4
urban and 6 rural) disproportionately affected by COVID and provide them with the training and resources
needed to achieve COVID testing equity. These Local Health Equity Action Teams will come together into a
multi-jurisdictional learning collaborative or `Community Partner Program' (Aim 1) that can share best practices
and collaborate on developing, testing and evaluating multi-component intervention packages for addressing
COVID. Initial supported interventions will include: community-sponsored pop-up testing events; home-based
and worksite testing; community-informed communication strategies; and `support packages' for at-risk
individuals and families receiving testing. Additional interventions developed or proposed by our local
community partners or identified through national RADx-UP efforts will be continuously considered by the
collaborative. Working with the local Action teams, we will conduct a series of semi-structured interviews and
surveys within each local community (Aim 2) to better understand common and subgroup (racial, ethnic,
geographic, etc.) barriers to and facilitators of testing. We will leverage existing epidemiologic surveillance
tools to develop and track a series of county-level metrics of COVID testing inequities. Guided by the RE-AIM
framework and the Consolidated Framework for Intervention Research, we will examine the effectiveness (Aim
3) of the collaborative in improving uptake of COVID testing in vulnerable communities and examine the reach,
adoption, implementation and maintenance of intervention components within each local community. This
study will not only advance our understanding of how to achieve COVID testing equity but will also provide a
framework for supporting underserved communities as they respond to future public health emergencies and
COVID vaccination challenges.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10233228
- **Project number:** 3UL1TR002366-04S3
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Mario Castro
- **Activity code:** UL1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $3,755,728
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-07 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10233228

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10233228, RADx-UP: Improving the Response of Local Urban and Rural Communities to Disparities in Covid-19 Testing (3UL1TR002366-04S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10233228. Licensed CC0.

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