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Working collaboratively with trusted community leaders and health professionals through an initiative called NJ HEROES TOO, the Rutgers researchers sought to address messaging and test an intervention that would encourage COVID-19 testing among Blacks and Latinx and their families. In addition to Black and Latinx communities in general, the initiative would focus on healthcare workers and their families, essential workers in the response to COVID-19, who were also largely Black and Latinx. NJ HEROES TOO, an acronym for New Jersey Healthcare Essential WoRker Outreach and Education Study – Testing Overlooked Occupations, is a Rutgers-led study funded by a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Using the non-invasive Rutgers at-home saliva collection test, NJ HEROES TOO has three primary goals. It aims to (1) better understand COVID-19 testing patterns among underserved and vulnerable populations; (2) strengthen the data on disparities in infection rates, disease progression, and outcomes; and (3) develop strategies to reduce the disparities in COVID-19 testing. The study focuses on the Black and Latinx communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Essex, Middlesex, Passaic and Union counties in New Jersey, places where Rutgers academic medical centers are deeply rooted. “The success of the research depends heavily on our ability to get a total of 2,000 individuals across four counties to participate in the study,” stated Shawna Hudson, lead principal investigator of NJ HEROES TOO, professor of family medicine and community health, founding director of the Center Advancing Research and Evaluation for Person-Centered Care at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and co-director of community engagement for the NJ Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science. Rutgers partnered with community-based and healthcare worker organizations in Essex, Middlesex, Passaic and Union “It’s important to empower our people to take an active role in their own healthcare and gain access to new research while helping themselves and others. NJ HEROES TOO’s publicly-engaged scholarship approach definitely is a win- win for the academy and the community.” José Carlos Montes, Chief Executive Officer Puerto Rican Action Board
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counties to co-design the study. Participating healthcare worker and community organizations include: Parker Health Group; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-New Brunswick; University Hospital Newark; Visiting Nurse Association Health Group; ASPIRA Association; Central Jersey Family Health Consortium, Inc.; Communities In Cooperation, Inc.; East Orange Senior Volunteer Corporation; Health Coalition of Passaic County; Jazz for Prostate Cancer Awareness ™ ; Mobile Family Success Center; New Brunswick Area Branch NAACP; New Brunswick Tomorrow; New Hope NOW Community Development Corporation; Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey; Programs for Parents; Puerto Rican Action Board; Sister2Sister, Inc.; The Bridge; Township of Hillside Senior Services and Recreation Center; United Way of Greater Union County; and Urban League of Union County. To date, more than 2,000 individuals have initiated the screening process facilitated through a community-based or healthcare worker organization. “Our collaboration with these entities is the quintessence of publicly-engaged scholarship,” added NJ HEROES TOO co-principal investigator, Diane Hill, assistant chancellor for university-community partnerships at Rutgers University–Newark and assistant professor at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration. “Publicly-engaged scholarship consists of interdisciplinary research conducted by faculty of an institution of higher learning in close collaboration with stakeholders of a target
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