PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This proposal responds to the FDA’s desire to advance understanding of COVID-19 and
long COVID or post-COVID conditions for racial and ethnic minorities and to advance the
understanding of how to mitigate spread of COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation (RFA-
FD-23-009).. This Community Engaged Research (CEnR) project investigates ongoing COVID-
19 experiences (including COVID-19 and long COVID), related to health equity and access
barriers, for African Americans/Blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and other multicultural populations in
Southern Maryland’s rural/small-towns of Charles and St. Mary’s counties. Addressing health
equity in diverse COVID-19-related experiences and post-acute care needs, along with COVID-
19 research and clinical trials participation, will require activities which are continuously
informed by community-guided research on barriers and bidirectional engagement. Active and
authentic partnerships with historically underrepresented communities are also needed to
address barriers, and to propose actionable items to mitigate the spread of mis/disinformation.
Moreover, in CEnR, the incorporation of ongoing COVID-19-related experiences of rural/small
town communities, coupled with the need for mitigation of mis and disinformation surrounding
public health emergencies, can contribute greatly to resolving health equity for diverse minority
communities. We submit “Community-defined Measures to Bridge Health Equity Gaps for
COVID-19: Small Town and Rural Needs” to achieve the following aims: Aim 1: Delineate
which COVID-19-related factors impact health equity for rural/small-town Black/African
American and Hispanic/Latino residents in Southern MD. Aim 2: Codesign health equity
principles to guide CEnR partnerships to recognize and address mis/disinformation, and to
foster COVID-19 research enrollment, including community/faith-based organizations. Aim 3:
Codevelop a toolkit to facilitate equity-focused COVID-19 clinical trial
recruitment/retention/implementation protocols; strategies to counter
misinformation/disinformation about science/research; and methods for greater engagement in
FDA Advisory Committees, and other community-based partnerships.