Research Brief: Assessing Readiness for Barbershop-Based HIV Prevention Programs Among Rural African American Barbershop Patrons

Abstract

African American men are at a greater risk for contracting HIV infection, and geography may play an important role in the spread of the virus. This study aimed to quantitatively assess the readiness of rural African American men to participate in a barbershop-based HIV prevention program. A paper-and-pencil survey was administered to rural African American male barbershop attendees to assess their readiness for barbershop-based HIV prevention programs. The results suggested that participants were amenable to this form of programming in the barbershop setting. There was no significance detected by demographic variables in readiness for barbershop-based HIV prevention programs. The results of the study give health education specialists and other public health practitioners insight into ways to effectively research, communicate to, and develop culturally appropriate programming for this priority population in a setting in which they are more likely to frequent.

Combating Chronic Disease with Barbershop Health Interventions: A Review of Current Knowledge and Potential for Big Data

“…Barbershop-based HIV/STI prevention programs have shown promise in understanding risk behaviors and increasing HIV testing rates among Black men [ 28 - 32 ]. The Barbershop Talk With Brothers program found a statistically significant increase in condom use ( P < 0.05), evidence of increased perception of community empowerment, and decreased HIV stigma after participating in education modules that focus on group discussions with strength-based guiding principles, ie, community cohesiveness; notion that participants are future providers and leaders in their community; social and personal behavioral determinants of HIV risk [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Socioeconomic factors and the evaluation of HIV/AIDS prevention programs: A psychometric analysis of an instrument

“…Research has documented the prevalence of different HIV/AIDS prevention programs launched to reduce the spread of the virus [2][3][4]. However, the extent to which the success or otherwise of these programs are achieved is rarely discussed.…”

“…However, past studies seem to have made little effort in associating stigmatization with the evaluation of HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Studies on HIV prevention programs have assessed "couple-focused prevention programs" [46,47], HIV prevention programs for school effectiveness [48,49], care and support [50], parents' HIV prevention program [51], rural prevention programs [3,52], and programs aimed at raising the awareness of youths and adolescents [53,54] and so on. Nevertheless, none of the cited studies considered stigmatization in evaluating HIV/AIDS prevention programs.…”