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Purpose

Recent data have shown that covid19 is disproportionately infecting and killing African Americans and Latinx people in the United States. The aim of the study is to determine which messages are most effective at increasing knowledge and changing behaviors that can protect individuals and their communities from the virus. To accomplish this aim, we plan to recruit approximately 20,000 Hispanic and African-American individuals and randomly assign them to videos that vary either the sender or the framing of the message, while providing the relevant public health information.

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

Hispanic and African-American adult individuals, men and women - oversample of those with less completed education

Exclusion Criteria

children, those who do not identify as above

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Prevention
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Control - CDC - Mask (Control) - Concordant 		Control Intro, CDC Social Distancing, Mask Control version delivered by minority doctor of same background as the recipient - other definitions are similar
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control - CDC - Mask (Control) - Discordant 		Control Intro, CDC Social Distancing, Mask Control version delivered by majority doctor of different background as the recipient - other definitions are similar
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control - MGH - Mask (Control) - Concordant 		Control Intro, MGH Social Distancing, Mask Control version delivered by concordant doctor
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control - MGH - Mask (Control) - Discordant 		Control Intro, MGH Social Distancing, Mask Control version delivered by discordant doctor
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Discrimination- MGH - Mask (Control) - Concordant 		Introduction Acknowledges past discrimination, MGH doctor talks about Social Distancing, Mask Control all by concordant MD
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Discrimination- MGH - Mask (Control) - Discordant 		Introduction Acknowledges past discrimination, MGH doctor talks about Social Distancing, Mask Control all by discordant MD
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. econ. circumstance- MGH - Mask (Control ) Concordant 		Intro econ. circumstance -MGH - Mask (Control ) Concordant
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. econ. circumstance - MGH - Mask (Control ) Discordant
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control Intro - CDC - Mask (antiStigma) Concordant 		Control Intro - CDC - Mask (antiStigma) Concordant messenger
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control Intro - CDC - Mask (antiStigma) Discordant 		Control Intro - CDC - Mask (antiStigma) discordant messenger
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Concordant messenger 		Control - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Concordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Control- MGH-MaskS (antiStigma) Discordant messenger 		Control - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Discordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Discrimination - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Concordant 		Acknowledge Discrimination - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Concordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Discrimination - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Discordant 		Acknowledge Discrimination - MGH - MaskS (antiStigma) Discordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Econ Hardship- MGH - Mask (antiStigma) Concordant 		Acknowledge Econ Hardship- MGH - Mask (antiStigma) Concordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Experimental
Ack. Econ Hardship- MGH - Mask (antiStigma) Discordant 		Acknowledge Econ Hardship- MGH - Mask (antiStigma) discordant sender
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.
Placebo Comparator
Info later - Pure Control 		This group will not receive the videos but will receive information later.
  • Behavioral: Messaging
    o The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. - Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. - Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. - Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. - Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. - Some individuals in a control group will see messages later.

Recruiting Locations

More Details

NCT ID
NCT04371419
Status
Completed
Sponsor
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

Detailed Description

The following procedures will be followed. The research subjects will participate online. 1. Doctors from MGH who express interest in participating will record messages according to our scripts (US Doctors Script African American, US Doctors Script Latinx). They will be instructed to film several different versions each. 2. We will recruit a sample of Latinx and African American study participants from across the country through Lucid, an online survey firm that has access to a large subject pool. 3. Participants will first read a consent script and give us their informed consent (US Doctors Messaging Consent) 4. Participants will then navigate through the following steps 1. Brief demographics survey questions (US Doctors Messaging Survey) 2. Videos 1 and 2: Introduction, Acknowledgement, Social Distancing (US Doctors Script African American, US Doctors Script Latinx). Individuals in the control group will not see videos. 3. Beliefs survey questions (US Doctors Messaging Survey) 4. Video 3: Masks (US Doctors Script African American, US Doctors Script Latinx). Again, individuals in the control group will not see a video here. 5. Main outcomes survey (US Doctors Messaging Survey) 6. Control group is shown a version of all 3 videos at end (US Doctors Script African American, US Doctors Script Latinx). 5. The video messages each participant in one of the treatment groups sees will be randomized on the following dimensions. The different versions are clearly demarcated in the US Doctors Scripts document. 1. Racial or ethnic identity of the doctor delivering the messages: concordant vs. discordant identity to the subject. 2. Whether the message includes an acknowledgment of "elephant in the room" issues for each target group: trust in the medical system or fear of deportation. 3. Whether the social distancing component of the message is delivered by Dr. Birx of the CDC or recorded by the MGH physicians. 4. Whether individuals are given information about how representative individuals perceive mask wearers of color. This information comes from results of our nationally representative pilot survey. 5. Some individuals in a control group will only see messages after all surveying has been completed.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.