Engaging Asian American Communities During the COVID-19 Era Tainted With Anti-Asian Hate and Distrust

COVID-19 has created disproportionate burdens for Asian Americans,1-4 the fastest-growing racial group by immigration in the United States.5 "Asian American" refers to a diverse population of over 40 cultural groups with distinct languages.6 California has the highest number of COVID-19 cases,7 and is also home to the country's largest number of Asian Americans, constituting 16% of the state's population.5 Structural barriers, including low health care access and undertesting, have contributed to excess COVID-related mortality and burdens among Asian Americans.8,9 Asian Americans may face additional sociocultural challenges to fully engage in appropriate COVID-19 protective measures, including limited English proficiency, mistrust of governmental or health authorities, fear and social stigma related to COVID-19, and exposure to the misinformation infodemic.9-13The COVID-19 era of mistrust and information overload creates significant challenges to empowering community members to access credible, timely, and linguistically appropriate information. With support from the National Institutes of Health-funded Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative,14 Project INFORMED (INdividual and Family Oriented Responsive Messaging Education; ClinicalTrials. gov Identifier: NCT04893265) was designed to help Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese Americans make well-informed decisions about safety measures, testing, and vaccination for COVID-19. Herein, we describe lessons learned from engaging Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese Americans during the pandemic through the implementation of INFORMED. We also provide examples of recommended strategies derived from these observations and lessons learned, which may prove valuable for engaging underserved communities in facilitating health education during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.