Adaptations of an RCT during COVID: Case Study in one Rural American Indian Community

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is global in nature but especially threatens American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities due to pre-existing conditions and social determinants of health. Because of the higher risk to AI/AN communities, many tribal nations have been proactive in their policies to keep the virus at bay, including travel restrictions and lockdowns. This affected tribal programs as well as collaborative research projects. One project impacted is the Native CHOICES project, an ongoing randomized controlled trial with an AI/AN community that is focused on the prevention of alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Originally designed to be conducted via in-person motivational interviewing sessions, COVID-19 restrictions precluded the intervention from being delivered in-person as it was designed. The study team received valuable input from the project’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) and community-based staff to establish a feasible and acceptable way of conducting the intervention while respecting tribally-enacted COVID-19 restrictions. The goal of this brief report is to outline not just the process to adapting to COVID-19 but also to provide recommendations for future public health programs, including the ongoing need to consider gaps in access affecting resource-poor settings.