Mobile Health for Migrant Health (mHealth-4-Mhealth): Assessing the Effectiveness of Implementing an mHealth Program to Increase COVID-19 Testing and Treatment Among Rural Migrant Families
Project Number1R01MD019506-01
Contact PI/Project LeaderMCCULLOH, RUSSELL JAMES
Awardee OrganizationUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
Description
Abstract Text
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Migrant agricultural workers and their families face formidable challenges in accessing COVID-19 testing,
treatment, and preventive measures due to geographic, cultural, linguistic, and social isolation from community
institutions and resources. Our research team has partnered with migrant families in rural Nebraska to improve
access to COVID-19 testing, healthcare, and community response resources by implementing the Mobile
Health for Migrant Health (mHealth-4-Mhealth) program. This program collaborates with state and local health
departments and the Title IC Nebraska Migrant Education Program and seeks to mitigate direct and indirect
negative effects of the pandemic by providing mHealth-guided decision support for at-home COVID-19 antigen
testing and infection management coupled with mHealth-assisted social determinants of health (SDOH)
screening and response protocols to connect families to community resources and aid. Our experience to date
highlights the feasibility and acceptability of mHealth-based public health interventions to engage marginalized
communities in COVID-19 responses and facilitate access to community and health systems resources. The
research objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of mHealth-4-Mhealth program implementation on
migrant families’ utilization of COVID-19 testing, treatment, and related healthcare resources by achieving
three specific aims. Aim #1: Determine the effectiveness of self-directed decision support via an mHealth tool
and human-assisted systems navigation for engaging rural migrant families in COVID-19 (1a) testing and (1b)
treatment. Aim #2: Identify SDOH and other implementation factors at participant, household, and community
levels associated with program adoption among rural migrant families. Aim #3: Determine the cost-
effectiveness of implementing mHealth and systems navigation to increase COVID-19 (3a) testing and (3b)
treatment among rural migrant families. We will conduct a prospective, cluster-randomized clinical trial among
Nebraska rural migrant families. Households will be randomized to one of three study arms to first receive free
at-home antigen test kits for varying periods of baseline observation followed by addition of our mHealth tool
and then the tool combined with human-assisted systems navigation. A fourth study arm will consist of existing
mHealth-4-mHealth families who already receive all program components. Primary outcomes will be COVID-19
test and antiviral therapy utilization. Secondary outcomes will include COVID-19 vaccination and unplanned
healthcare utilization. We will analyze these outcomes across intervention states. For Aim 2 we will assess the
association of SDOH and other implementation factors that may contribute to rural migrant families’ use
(adoption) of program interventions. For Aim 3 we will determine the incremental cost-effectiveness of program
implementation using the mHealth tool with or without systems navigation. Results will provide evidentiary
support to scale the intervention to migrant-serving programs nationally, inform health policy development, and
drive future programs aimed at improving community resilience in public health emergencies.
Public Health Relevance Statement
PROJECT NARRATIVE
Migrant agricultural workers and their families experience persistent negative health consequences from the
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic due to disparities in access to effective testing and treatment and pre-existing social
and economic inequities; in response we have engaged rural migrant families in Nebraska to improve access
to COVID-19 testing, healthcare, and community response resources through the Mobile Health for Migrant
Health (mHealth-4-Mhealth) program. In the proposed study we will evaluate the impact, moderators, and cost-
effectiveness of implementing mHealth-4-Mhealth program elements on migrant families’ access to and
utilization of COVID-19 testing, treatment, and related healthcare resources. Given the portability and
adaptability of mHealth tools to diverse communities, our findings can inform national-scale interventions to
empower families to adapt to public health emergencies.
NIH Spending Category
No NIH Spending Category available.
Project Terms
AdoptionAgricultural WorkersAgricultureAnti-viral TherapyBehaviorCOVID-19COVID-19 pandemicCOVID-19 testCOVID-19 testingCOVID-19 treatmentCOVID-19 vaccinationChronicCluster randomized trialCollaborationsCommunicationCommunitiesCoupledDiagnosisDiagnostic Reagent KitsEconomicsEducationEffectivenessElementsEligibility DeterminationEnrollmentEnsureFaceFamilyFundingFutureGeographyHealthHealth PolicyHealth systemHealthcareHomeHouseholdHumanImprove AccessIndividualInequityInstitutionInterventionKnowledgeLinguisticsMedicalMigrantNebraskaOutcomeParticipantPolicy DevelopmentsPreventive measureProgram EffectivenessProtocols documentationRADx Underserved PopulationsRandomizedResearchResourcesRuralSARS-CoV-2 antigenSARS-CoV-2 infectionSelf DirectionSocial isolationSpanish/EnglishSystemTestingacceptability and feasibilityaccess disparitiesantigen testarmbilingualismcostcost effectivecost effectivenesseffectiveness evaluationempowermentexperiencehealth care service utilizationhome testimplementation determinantsimprovedincremental cost-effectivenessinfection managementinfection riskintervention programmHealthmarginalized communitypandemic impactportabilityprimary outcomeprogramsprospectivepublic health emergencypublic health interventionrandomized, clinical trialsresilienceresponserural areascreeningsecondary outcomesocialsocial health determinantsthree-arm studytool
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
CFDA Code
307
DUNS Number
168559177
UEI
G15AG3BLLMH4
Project Start Date
15-August-2024
Project End Date
31-May-2028
Budget Start Date
15-August-2024
Budget End Date
31-May-2025
Project Funding Information for 2024
Total Funding
$614,873
Direct Costs
$406,556
Indirect Costs
$208,317
Year
Funding IC
FY Total Cost by IC
2024
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
$614,873
Year
Funding IC
FY Total Cost by IC
Sub Projects
No Sub Projects information available for 1R01MD019506-01
Publications
Publications are associated with projects, but cannot be identified with any particular year of the project or fiscal year of funding. This is due to the continuous and cumulative nature of knowledge generation across the life of a project and the sometimes long and variable publishing timeline. Similarly, for multi-component projects, publications are associated with the parent core project and not with individual sub-projects.
No Publications available for 1R01MD019506-01
Patents
No Patents information available for 1R01MD019506-01
Outcomes
The Project Outcomes shown here are displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. NIH has not endorsed the content below.
No Outcomes available for 1R01MD019506-01
Clinical Studies
No Clinical Studies information available for 1R01MD019506-01
News and More
Related News Releases
No news release information available for 1R01MD019506-01
History
No Historical information available for 1R01MD019506-01
Similar Projects
No Similar Projects information available for 1R01MD019506-01