The numbers speak for themselves: one-third of the people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S. are Hispanic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nearly half of all pregnant women who have contracted the virus are Hispanic.<\/p>\n
Yet Hispanics only make up 18% of the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
School of Nursing researchers Xiaomei Cong<\/a> and Kelley Newlin Lew<\/a> say that earlier testing and diagnosis of COVID-19 could help Hispanic families across Connecticut, but they need to identify what is preventing these families from getting tested in the first place. They\u2019re partnering with the Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut for the research study, with support from the Office of the Vice President for Research\u2019s COVID-19 Research Seed Funding (COVID-RSF2) Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis study will give us quantitative and qualitative data we\u2019ll use to develop strategies to potentially help increase COVID-19 screening and vaccination,\u201d Newlin Lew says. \u201cBut the strategies will be informed by community members who need these services, and by local leaders and health professionals who can also provide insight.\u201d<\/p>\n To determine which factors influence Hispanic families\u2019 decisions to seek or not seek COVID-19 testing, the researchers will conduct surveys of 50 underserved Connecticut families with pregnant women and young children up to age 3. The survey questions will help identify what participants perceive to be the benefits and barriers to getting tested and vaccinated; their awareness and knowledge of COVID-19; and their decision-making process when it comes to testing and vaccination.<\/p>\n \u201cOur preliminary collaborative work with the Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut suggests that medical distrust is a central factor,\u201d the researchers say. \u201cFew resources for affordable testing, suboptimal primary care access for some, and other constraints may also serve as barriers for Hispanic families, especially among mothers and young children.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the survey data is in hand, Cong and Newlin Lew will develop theories of how to increase testing and future vaccination. This part of the study will include a focus group with five Hispanic women and their family members, as well as a focus group with five Hispanic community leaders, health care professionals, and social workers. The groups will help refine the researchers\u2019 strategies.<\/p>\n \u201cThey identify the need and we provide our research expertise, but they\u2019re providing expertise on local knowledge, local needs, cultural sensitivity, barriers, and facilitators,\u201d Newlin Lew says.<\/p>\n The Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut is a long-time partner of the School of Nursing and has created the Ayuda Program to provide financial relief, psychological services, pre- and postpartum health education, and other critical support to more than 1,100 families during the pandemic.<\/p>\n The study will also offer experience to student researchers. Catherine Cantelmo \u201923 (NURS) has received a Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Research Experience (SHARE) award<\/a> from the Office of Undergraduate Research for her role in the study.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be involved in this COVID-19 study because it\u2019s a rare opportunity to work on research that is addressing a current crisis in an underserved community,\u201d Cantelmo says. \u201cI think the ability to address a disparity involving people living near me is one that not everyone has, and I am very thankful for the opportunity that I have been given.\u201d<\/p>\n The combination of researcher expertise, community knowledge, and student involvement in this study has the potential to make an impact on communities across Connecticut.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the leadership of Dean Chyun, the School of Nursing has placed a renewed emphasis on health inequities in our research,\u201d Newlin Lew says. \u201cThis study is really about engaging the community and solving health problems that afflict them. It\u2019s a process of empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow the UConn School of Nursing on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>, or\u00a0<\/em>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Xiaomei Cong and Kelley Newlin Lew are partnering with the Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut for the study, with support from the Office of the Vice President for Research\u2019s COVID-19 Research Seed Funding Program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":162362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2213,1877,2231,2076,2235,2306],"tags":[2061,2251],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2217],"class_list":["post-168604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-coronavirus","category-nur","category-health-well-being","category-research","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-voices","tag-community-impact","tag-coronavirus"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 18:42:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168604"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168668,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168604\/revisions\/168668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/162362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168604"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=168604"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=168604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}