# KY INBRE NOSI Supplement: Targeted COVID-19 Vaccine Decision Making Support for Sexual and Gender Minorities

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · 2021 · $253,183

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, 31.6 million Americans
have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus and 566,000 have died. Effective and safe COVID-19
vaccines have been developed, tested, and deployed in record time and 219 million vaccine
doses have been administered in the US. Racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine uptake have
been noted, but data are not yet available for some other disadvantaged groups. Sexual and
Gender Minorities (SGMs) are potentially at risk for vaccine hesitancy due to social and
historical factors affecting vaccination in general and healthcare access specifically. There is a
critical need to understand vaccine attitudes and behaviors among SGMs. Our long-term goal is
to reduce potential health disparities in COVID-19 among SGMs. The overall objective is to
develop and deploy a decision aid that supports SGM COVID-19 vaccine decision making.
Using survey and focus group methods, and following accepted international standards for
decision aid development, we will develop a tailored decision aid to reduce vaccine decisional
conflict and improve vaccine acceptance.
The project’s specific aims are to:
1. Generate foundational knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among SGMs. We
hypothesize that SGMs overall will be somewhat less accepting of the vaccine than the general
population and, among SGMs, there will be subgroups with other vaccine hesitancy risk factors
(e.g., race, gender minority identity, political affiliation) who have significantly higher rates of
vaccine hesitancy.
2. Produce contextualized understanding of intentions to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. We
hypothesize the reasons for vaccine acceptance or hesitancy will differ among SGM subgroups.
Focus group discussions with diverse samples of SGMs who are vaccine-hesitant will identify
knowledge gaps, misconceptions, perceived barriers, negative attitudes such as stigma and
mistrust, and preferences for decision support. The primary outcome will be determining
decision support needs for SGM subgroups.
3. Create decision aids to reduce decision conflict and improve acceptance of the COVID-19
vaccine. We will generate a decision aid, or multiple versions of a decision aid, to empower the
SGM decision maker to compare options for protection against COVID-19, clarify values, and
support efficacy for gathering more information, collaborating with a healthcare partner in the
decision-making process, and/or obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine. We hypothesize the tailored
decision aids will reduce decision conflict and improve vaccine acceptance.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10398400
- **Project number:** 3P20GM103436-21S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** MARTHA E BICKFORD
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $253,183
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2001-09-30 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10398400

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10398400, KY INBRE NOSI Supplement: Targeted COVID-19 Vaccine Decision Making Support for Sexual and Gender Minorities (3P20GM103436-21S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10398400. Licensed CC0.

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