Pathogen Genomics Centers of Excellence
Respiratory Illness in Underserved Communities
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light many of the disparities that exist within the health care system in Minnesota. People with fewer socioeconomic resources and those in racial/ethnic minority communities were more likely to become infected and suffer the most severe outcomes. This is a trend previously seen with other respiratory conditions. Other characteristics, including living in rural locations and having limited English proficiency, also served as barriers to engaging with health care and biomedical research.
The COVID-19 pandemic also raised awareness of some of the factors that underlie these disparities. Distrust is based in:
- Historical trauma and institutionalized racism.
- Conflicting cultural beliefs about health care.
- Lack of representation among health care and public health workforce.
- Lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate communication from the health care system
- Lack of convenient accessible services.
The cumulative result is that there is too little research specifically about families in historically marginalized communities and their vulnerability to COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. With funding from the Pathogen Genomics Centers of Excellence program, the Minnesota Public Health Laboratory and the University of Minnesota aim to investigate this issue and address the disparities.
Community-based participatory research
A technique called community-based participatory research (CBPR) has proven effective in closing the gap between underserved communities and the American health care infrastructure. It entails equal partnerships between community members, health care providers, and academic researchers in all stages of the research process.
Dr. Beth Thielen and her team at the University of Minnesota Medical School are leading the CBPR-informed effort to engage with community leaders to build trust and systematically address barriers to engaging in biomedical research. Dr. Thielen’s lab aims to diversify participation in public surveillance with the long-term goal of increasing access to prevention and treatment services.
Central to achieving this goal are convenient home-based sampling techniques and engagement of community members in all steps of the research planning, implementation and dissemination. With greater participation in the health care system, communities will benefit from the system’s improved ability to quickly discover and address future outbreaks.
Using cutting-edge technology
The Public Health Laboratory will use next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze patient samples and detect respiratory viruses. Recent improvements in NGS should enable us to efficiently characterize both established viruses and any newly discovered pathogens.
With this project, the Public Health Laboratory and the University of Minnesota are practicing the principles of health equity. To decrease health disparities, health care institutions must not rely on “one-size-fits-all” solutions. They must instead acknowledge the concerns of underserved and historically disadvantaged groups and address them in ways most likely to bring improved health outcomes.