You & Me: Test and Treat study protocol for promoting COVID-19 test and treatment access to underserved populations.

BACKGROUND: Infections and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected underserved populations. A community-engaged approach that supports decision making around safe COVID-19 practices is needed to promote equitable access to testing and treatment. You & Me: Test and Treat (YMTT) will evaluate a systematic and scalable community-engaged protocol that provides rapid access to COVID-19 at-home tests, education, guidance on next steps, and information on local resources to facilitate treatment in underserved populations. METHODS: This direct-to-participant observational study will distribute at-home, self-administered, COVID-19 testing kits to people in designated communities. YMTT features a Public Health 3.0 framework and Toolkit prescribing a tiered approach to community engagement. We will partner with two large community organizations, Merced County United Way (Merced County, CA) and Pitt County Health Department (Pitt County, NC), who will coordinate up to 20 local partners to distribute 40,000 COVID tests and support enrollment, consenting, and data collection over a 15-month period. Participants will complete baseline questions about their demographics, experience with COVID-19 infection, and satisfaction with the distribution event. Community partners will also complete engagement surveys. In addition, participants will receive guidance on COVID-19 mitigation and health-promoting resources, and accessible and affordable therapeutics if they test positive for COVID-19. Data collection will be completed using a web-based platform that enables creation and management of electronic data capture forms. Implementation measures include evaluating 1) the Toolkit as a method to form community-academic partnerships for COVID-19 test access, 2) testing results, and 3) the efficacy of a YMTT protocol coupled with local resourcing to provide information on testing, guidance, treatment, and links to resources. Findings will be used to inform innovative methods to address community needs in public health research that foster cultural relevance, improve research quality, and promote health equity. DISCUSSION: This work will promote access to COVID-19 testing and treatment for underserved populations by leveraging a community-engaged research toolkit. Future dissemination of the toolkit can support effective community-academic partnerships for health interventions in underserved settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05455190 . Registered 13 July 2022.

A novel abuse liability assessment of e-cigarettes in young adults ii: Reinforcement enhancement and follow-up assessment.

A double-blind study was performed to test the abuse liability of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in young adults; in particular, the influence of nicotine on reward sensitivity was assessed. A total of 53 healthy nonusers participated in experimental sessions during which they played a video game made available on a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement and self-administered nicotine via ENDS. Participants were randomized into one of three groups. Two groups received either a dedicated concentration of nicotine (6 and 12 mg) or a placebo, and whether they received the placebo or their dedicated nicotine dose was randomly determined on a session-by-session basis to mask the sequencing of drug administration. The third group received only a 0 mg (placebo) vaping device during all sessions. In comparison to all placebo conditions, nicotine-induced reward sensitization was evidenced on behavioral measures of video game reinforcement, but not subjective appraisals of the vaping experience. A 1-month follow-up survey provided evidence that reinforcement enhancement by nicotine predicts increased abuse liability of ENDS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).