# A novel community intervention to reduce disparate impact from COVID-19 on vulnerable adolescents

> **NIH NIH R21** · CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSP (KANSAS CITY, MO) · 2021 · $389,828

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The burden of poor sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and mental health (MH) outcomes among Black
adolescents from low-resource communities is substantial. Efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic have
reduced access to care and threaten to worsen existing disparities; thus, research to ameliorate the negative
impact of the pandemic on SRH and MH outcomes is desperately needed. Building on previous work and
drawing on proven strategies, we propose our novel approach to increasing access to care. We will compare
our community-level intervention, TeenHealth Outreach (THO), to our multi-level intervention, TeenHealth
Outreach+ (THO+). In THO+, we will provide intervention at the individual (e.g., health system navigation
training), interpersonal (e.g., social networks diffuse information), and community (e.g., leaders support care
access including telemedicine and mobile health units) levels. We will conduct a cluster randomized controlled
trial to evaluate intervention feasibility. Adolescent leaders from our partner community organizations will
recruit friends to form small networks (N ~ 96 adolescents aged 14-18 years). We will randomize networks to:
(1) THO (trusted community organizations promote health care sources including our MHU, telemedicine, and
traditional clinics) or (2) THO+ (peer leaders work with health professionals and trusted adults to curate toolkits
containing health materials [e.g., infographics, videos] and strategies for diffusion [e.g., social media, small
group sessions] to actively connect adolescents in their friend networks to the same sources for care as THO).
We will assess these feasibility constructs using mixed methodology: acceptability, demand, implementation,
practicality, integration, expansion, and limited-efficacy. We compare two arms to determine size of effect rates
on contraception initiation. At scale, this intervention can be fully integrated into our community and serve as a
model for health organizations challenged by the pandemic. Knowledge gained from this research will translate
into trusted outreach interventions equipped to respond to rapidly changing health needs, including future
vaccination against COVID-19, and delivery environments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10319690
- **Project number:** 3R21HD098086-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSP (KANSAS CITY, MO)
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa Kristine Miller
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $389,828
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-05-22 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10319690

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10319690, A novel community intervention to reduce disparate impact from COVID-19 on vulnerable adolescents (3R21HD098086-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10319690. Licensed CC0.

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