RADx-UP Health Equity Policy Framework
Scaling Up Equitable Access to Community-Based COVID-19 Testing: Strategies from the RADx-UP Initiative
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many barriers to COVID-19 testing, from technical challenges, to access and communications issues, to health insurance coverage. For many marginalized and minoritized communities, the inequitable repercussions of the pandemic are far from over.
This policy paper, Scaling Up Equitable Access to Community-Based COVID-19 Testing: Strategies from the RADx-UP Initiative, offers a timely perspective into the policy strategies necessary to close equity gaps in COVID-19 testing based on experiences from RADx-UP projects. Explore resources and full paper below and check out a Health Affairs blog post highlighting five lessons learned about community-academic partnerships through RADx-UP's work.
Watch this compilation video that explains the five policy levers and three foundational components of the RADx-UP Health Equity Policy Framework.
Full Paper
Download, read, and share the full paper, Scaling Up Equitable Access to Community-Based COVID-19 Testing: Strategies from the RADx-UP Initiative.
Community Brief
Download, read, and share Community-Based COVID-19 Testing: Barriers, Solutions and Next Steps, a community-focused 3-page summary.
Executive Summary
Download, read, and share the executive summary from the policy paper.
Case Studies
Download, read, and share RADx-UP project case studies from the policy paper.
Health Equity Policy Framework Levers and Foundational Components Videos
These short videos focus on each part of the Health Equity Policy Framework. They highlight each of the five policy levers: access, resource allocation, data, communications & messaging, and payment, as well as the foundational components of community engagement, cross-sector partnerships, and regulatory guidance.
Summary
Framework for Community-Based COVID-19 Testing
Section 1 outlines a policy framework for achieving equitable policy responses to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies. The framework identifies five key policy levers: access, Resource allocation, Data, Communication and Payment.
It also identifies three foundational components of community engagement of cross-sector partnerships and regulatory considerations. This section also summarizes common barriers to COVID-19 testing across policy levers.
Testing Strategies Across Policy Levers
Section 2 synthesizes key strategies to reduce or eliminate barriers to COVID-19 testing from the literature and experiences from RADx-UP projects. This section also uses case studies to highlight how RADx-UP projects have implemented community-based COVID-19 testing strategies to reach marginalized and minoritized communities.
Considerations for Policymakers, Providers, and RADx-UP Projects
Section 3 provides actionable steps for policymakers, providers, and RADx-UP Projects to facilitate more equitable public health responses to the pandemic and beyond. Lessons to-date can facilitate more equitable COVID-19 testing strategies as well as providing important implications for policy directions as new COVID-19 variants emerge.
Collaborators
This paper was a collaborative effort from RADx-UP partnering institutions Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, UNC Center for Health Equity Research, and Duke Clinical Research Institute.
RADx-UP is the single largest investment in health disparities research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Policymakers, providers, community partners, and other health leaders can adapt community-engaged policy strategies piloted during the COVID-19 pandemic to connect communities to needed resources and COVID-19 testing.
Watch this explainer video about the Health Equity Policy Framework and think about how it may be useful in your project.
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Resources
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Publications
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