PCORI has identified COVID-19 as an important research topic. Patients, clinicians, and others want to learn: What are effective ways to prevent or reduce the impact of COVID-19, especially on vulnerable populations and the healthcare workforce? To help answer this question, PCORI launched an initiative in 2020 to Strengthen Understanding of COVID-19 Impact and Inform Healthcare Responses. The initiative funded this research project and others.

This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.

What is the research about?

Long term care centers, or LTCCs, provide medical and personal care to people who can’t live on their own. Types of LTCCs include nursing homes and assisted living centers. LTCC workers are at high risk for COVID-19, but many aren’t vaccinated. Higher vaccination rates would better protect both LTCC workers and the people they care for from COVID-19.

Many LTCC workers belong to immigrant, refugee, or racial and ethnic groups who have experienced mistreatment or historical and current racism. These communities may not trust information about vaccines coming from doctors or the government. To improve trust, past studies have led experts to recommend working with community members to tailor information about vaccines,

In this study, the research team is partnering with LTCC workers to design materials to help inform other LTCC workers about COVID-19 vaccines. The team is comparing vaccination rates at LTCCs where workers receive:

• Tailored materials designed by workers at their LTCC.
• General information about COVID-19 vaccines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.

Who can this research help?

Results may help LTCC administrators when considering ways to increase vaccination rates among workers.

What is the research team doing?

The research team is enrolling 50 LTCCs in Georgia and Washington State. The LTCCs employ about 5,000 workers. The team is assigning LTCCs by chance to one of two groups. Each group includes 12–13 LTCCs from each state.

In the first group, LTCC workers take part in a 10-week co-design process in which workers from a cultural group help design messages for that cultural group. These workers also receive training to be peer advocates and help share the messages they create with other workers.

In the second group, LTCCs receive information about COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC. The research team is consulting with LTCC leaders on effective ways to get messages to workers.

The research team is looking at vaccination rates in LTCCs at the start of the study and 7, 10, and 13 months later. The team is also surveying and interviewing workers about their opinions on and knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and how likely they are to recommend the vaccines to others.

LTCC workers, staff, and administrators are helping to plan and conduct this study.