Community utilization of a co-created COVID-19 testing program in a US/Mexico border community

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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed several health disparities experienced by underserved and Latino/a communities, including inequitable access to COVID-19 testing. OBJECTIVE AND GOALS: To describe the utilization of a community-driven and culturally-tailored testing model on COVID-19 testing in an underserved Latino/a community in San Diego. METHODS: The Community-driven Optimization of COVID-19 testing to Reach and Engage Underserved Areas for Testing Equity (CO-CREATE) project implemented a community co-designed COVID-19 testing program in partnership with a Federally Qualified Health Center in a US/Mexico border community. RESULTS: Between May 2021 and March 2023, 24, 422 COVID-19 PCR tests were administered to 13,253 individuals, among whom 93% percent identified as Latino/a, 57% spoke Spanish in the home, and 38% resided in our target community adjacent to the US/Mexico border, San Ysidro. Based on a subset of available county testing data, CO-CREATE accounted for nearly 12% of all COVID-19 tests reported for San Ysidro residents. Over the course of the project, we estimated that nearly 17% of all San Ysidro residents were tested for COVID-19 through the CO-CREATE project. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the success and reach of this culturally responsive and community co-designed COVID-19 testing program, within a Latino/a border community. Future public health interventions should focus on identifying testing barriers and design appropriate strategies to ensure equitable access to resources and testing uptake for all community members.

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