Vaccine Hesitancy in Black/African Americans With Rheumatic Diseases

Purpose

To establish the efficacy of a community-based POL (Popular Opinion Leader) intervention with two different trainings designed to increase COVID-19 vaccine and booster uptake and reduce hesitancy among social networks of Black individuals with rheumatic conditions. The investigators will also determine the structure and composition of the personal and outreach social networks of POLs.

Conditions

  • Rheumatic Diseases
  • COVID-19 Vaccine
  • COVID-19
  • SLE

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 85 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

POLs: 18-85 years old; All genders; English-speaking; Self-identify as Black and/or African descent; Received ≥1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine after 8.31.2022 (bivalent booster or updated COVID-19 vaccine [2023-2024] formula) Social network members: At least 18 years of age; All genders; English-speaking or Haitian Creole or Spanish-speaking if the POL also speaks Haitian Creole or Spanish; Not have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine 2023-2024 formula; Recent (within 3 months) COVID-19 infection and either undecided or no intention of receiving the vaccine.

Exclusion Criteria

Both POLs and social network members: Under 18 years of age Pregnant women Institutionalized or incarcerated Those who are up to date on COVID vaccinations

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Two different group training arms related to COVID-19 vaccine uptake
Primary Purpose
Health Services Research
Masking
None (Open Label)
Masking Description
Participants are unblinded but study has non-disclosure component of keeping the difference between the two training arms as non-disclosed until the conclusion of the study.

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Active Comparator
COVID-19 vaccine and booster training 		Group training involving COVID-19 vaccine and booster information, including background, development, and myths.
  • Behavioral: COVID-19 vaccine and booster training, and importance
    COVID-19 vaccine and booster information training
Experimental
COVID-19 vaccine and booster training with extra undisclosed component 		Group training involving COVID-19 vaccine and booster information, including background, development, and myths. Contains extra training component that is undisclosed until the end of the study so as not to introduce bias.
  • Behavioral: COVID-19 vaccine and booster training, and importance
    COVID-19 vaccine and booster information training

Recruiting Locations

More Details

NCT ID
NCT05822219
Status
Active, not recruiting
Sponsor
Northwestern University

Detailed Description

Through community-academic partnerships in Boston and Chicago, investigators will recruit and randomly assign POLs who identify as Black with rheumatic conditions to two training arms in each city. Arms 1 and 2 will receive the same core curriculum addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, safety and efficacy. POLs will work in their communities to distributed information they learned in the trainings to members of their social network. The investigators will gather information about these social networks, assessing for differences in characteristics such as size, location, and who is in it (percentage of family, percentage Black, percentage with rheumatic conditions).