This project will assess the potential impact of alternative strategies for improving vaccine delivery and testing uptake by:
- Assessing the social, cultural, and economic factors that affect the affordability, availability, and acceptability of COVID-19 testing and vaccination among Lakota communities in Western South Dakota.
- Determining how alternative approaches to testing and vaccine delivery will influence the likelihood that tribal members will undergo testing and vaccination.
- Expanding the GPLHRC to develop a sustainable platform for creating evidence to support the COVID-19 response among Lakota tribes, collaborate with other efforts to improve COVID-19 testing among vulnerable populations, and contribute to the RADx-UP network.
The products of this project will include strategies to increase the acceptability and accessibility of testing and vaccination in Lakota communities, an innovative and adaptable “tool-kit” for assessing the impact of delivery options in the future, expanded avenues for tribal engagement in testing responses, and new knowledge about the role of key cultural, social, and economic factors in access to health care among Lakota tribes.
Gina Johnson, Program Manager
Deanna Howe-Swan, Administrative Coordinator
