Influence of context on engagement with COVID-19 testing: a scoping review of barriers and facilitators to testing for healthcare workers, care homes and schools in the UK
,
Ben Lambert,
Sassy Molyneux,
Claire Marriott Keene,
Prabin Dahal,
Kasia Stepniewska,
Sheetal Silal,
Richard Lewis,
Sabine Dittrich,
Sunil Pokharel,
Siyu Chen,
Bo Gao,
Umar Mahmood,
Ricardo Aguas,
Marta Wanat,
Lisa White,
Rima Shretta,
Wirichada Pan-Ngum,
Ainura Moldokmatova,
Caroline Franco,
Sompob Saralamba,
Jared Norman,
Rachel Hounsell,
Reshania Naidoo,
Melinda C Mills,
Lisa J White,
Merryn Voysey,
Liberty Cantrell,
Sophie Dickinson,
Billie Andersen-Waine,
Angus Ferguson-Lewis,
Anastasia Polner,
Ma’ayan Amswych,
Anastasiia Polner,
Claire Keene,
Emily Rowe,
Kweku Bimpong,
Joseph L-H Tsui,
Muhammad Kasim,
Randolph Ngwafor Anye,
Richard Creswell,
Sumali Bajaj,
Tracy Evans
Affiliations
SPRinG Network, Severn and Peninsula Deaneries, UK
Ben Lambert
Douglas Macmillan Hospice, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Sassy Molyneux
Centre for Global Health Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Claire Marriott Keene
Centre for Global Health Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Prabin Dahal
4 Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Kasia Stepniewska
9 University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Sheetal Silal
Richard Lewis
Sabine Dittrich
1 Malaria and Fever Programme, FIND, Geneva, Switzerland
Sunil Pokharel
17 University of Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
Siyu Chen
Guangdong Laboratory Animals Monitoring Institute, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Bo Gao
Umar Mahmood
Ricardo Aguas
Marta Wanat
3 Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Lisa White
Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Rima Shretta
4 Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Wirichada Pan-Ngum
Ainura Moldokmatova
Caroline Franco
Sompob Saralamba
Jared Norman
Rachel Hounsell
4 Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Reshania Naidoo
Centre for Global Health Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Melinda C Mills
Lisa J White
Merryn Voysey
5 Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Liberty Cantrell
5 Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Sophie Dickinson
UKI Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young (EY), London, UK
Billie Andersen-Waine
UKI Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young (EY), London, UK
Angus Ferguson-Lewis
UKI Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young (EY), London, UK
Anastasia Polner
UKI Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young (EY), London, UK
Ma’ayan Amswych
UKI Health Sciences and Wellness, Ernst & Young (EY), London, UK
Anastasiia Polner
Claire Keene
Emily Rowe
Kweku Bimpong
Joseph L-H Tsui
Muhammad Kasim
Randolph Ngwafor Anye
Richard Creswell
3 Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Sumali Bajaj
6 Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Objective The UK government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic included a ‘test, trace and isolate’ strategy. Testing services for healthcare workers, care homes and schools accounted for the greatest spend and volume of tests. We reviewed relevant literature to identify common and unique barriers and facilitators to engaging with each of these testing services.Design Scoping review.Search strategy PubMed, Scopus and the WHO COVID-19 Research Database were searched for evidence published between 1 January 2020 and 7 November 2022. This was supplemented by evidence identified via free-text searches on Google Scholar and provided by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).Data extraction and synthesis Data were extracted by a team of reviewers and synthesised thematically under the broad headings of perceptions, experiences, barriers and facilitators to engaging with the COVID-19 testing programme.Results This study included 40 sources, including 17 from projects that informed UKHSA’s decisions during the pandemic. Eight themes emerged and were used to categorise barriers and facilitators to engaging with the testing services for healthcare workers, care homes and schools: (1) perceived value, (2) trust in the tests and public bodies, (3) importance of infrastructure, (4) impact of media and social networks, (5) physical burden of the test, (6) perceived capability to undertake testing, (7) importance of relevant information and 8) consequences of testing.Conclusions Universal barriers and facilitators to engagement with the testing programme related to the core elements of each testing service, such as uncomfortable specimen collection and the influence of media and peers; these could be mitigated or leveraged to increase engagement across settings. However, the individuals involved, perceptions of value and available resources differed across services, leading to unique experiences between settings. Thus, consideration of context is crucial when designing and implementing a testing programme in response to a pandemic.
