A study protocol to explore and implement community-based point-of-care COVID-19 testing for women who use drugs in Baltimore, Maryland: The CARE study

Women who use drugs (WWUD) experience structural vulnerabilities (e.g., housing, food insecurities) and comorbidities that elevate their susceptibility to more severe COVID-19 symptoms or fatality compared to similarly-aged women who do not use illicit drugs. Testing is a cornerstone of effective COVID prevention, however, entrenched barriers to healthcare utilization means that WWUD may have diminished accessing to COVID testing. The CARE (COVID Action Research Engagement) study first examines predisposing and enabling factors that predict COVID testing uptake over six months (baseline, 3-, and 6-month follow-up) among a cohort of WWUD (N = 250) in Baltimore, Maryland, providing a nuanced and holistic understanding of how to meaningfully engage WWUD in COVID testing. Then, point-of-care COVID testing will be implemented on a mobile outreach van affiliated with a local community-based organization primarily serving WWUD; anonymous surveys of mobile outreach guests (N = 100) will assess feasibility and acceptability of this integrated testing. The study is grounded in the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations and the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. We hypothesize that point-of-care COVID testing integrated into a low-barrier harm reduction service, such as a mobile outreach program, will be an enabling environment for COVID testing uptake in part by reducing structural impediments to testing and will be highly feasible and acceptable to participants. Strengths, limitations, and plans for results dissemination are discussed.