# Building Resilience and Vital Equity (BRAVE) - Increasing COVID-19 Testing in American Indians

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $1,390,688

## Abstract

Abstract
The COVID19 pandemic continues to hit hardest on underserved communities including American Indians
(AI)/Alaska Natives (AN). Diseases with significant health disparities and social determinants of health are
major risk factors and define COVID19 related disparities among AI/AN. Increased testing and upcoming
adherence to vaccination recommendations are two important strategies to manage COVID19 and mitigate the
impact of the virus on marginalized communities. Mounting evidence indicates that underserved communities
are less likely to actively participate in mass testing and immunization recommendations due to poverty,
access, inadequate information, logistics and issues surrounding fear, stigma and trust. North Carolina (NC)
has the largest AI population east of the Mississippi River and the sixth largest AI population in the nation with
more than half living in rural underserved counties of Robeson, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland. This
proposal is a partnership between two community engaged academic institutions (North Carolina Central
University - NCCU and University of North Carolina at Pembroke-UNCP) and a major community partner – The
Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina (LTNC) with 62,500 members. We hypothesize that a bidirectional community-
engaged approach to understand the social ethical and behavioral implications (SEBI) combined with focused
interventions to address the barriers will increase testing and mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 in AI
communities of NC. The specific aims of the proposal are (1) To understand the barriers and social
implications of COVID19 testing among American Indians by designing and implementing culturally sensitive
survey tools and intervention materials. (2) Implement BRAVE outreach and testing interventions to increase
testing in American Indian community and (3) Data analysis, evaluation and data sharing. BRAVE is a bold
community-engaged initiative to increase testing by addressing disparities and building resiliency to change the
narrative from struggle to strength in AI community as we fight this unfortunate public health emergency.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10258335
- **Project number:** 3R01MD012767-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** DEEPAK KUMAR
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,390,688
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-26 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10258335

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10258335, Building Resilience and Vital Equity (BRAVE) - Increasing COVID-19 Testing in American Indians (3R01MD012767-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10258335. Licensed CC0.

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