Rural Shop-Based Health Program Planning: a Formative Research Approach Among Owners.
African American barbershops and beauty salons are settings that have been identified as a significant and culturally relevant venue to reach minority populations for health promotion activities. By being located in almost every town in the USA, this setting is a viable means to promote healthy lifestyles among African Americans. The purpose of this formative research project was to assess African American barbershop and beauty salon owners' perceptions of providing health promotion programming in their shops, as well as to obtain information on health topics of interest and strategies for implementation. Interviewees were recruited using snowballing among clientele and owner referrals, between November 2014 and August 2015. A total of 20 barbershop and salon owners, across 11 counties in eastern North Carolina, completed face-to-face interviews. Responses were stratified by barbershops and beauty salons. Across both groups, all owners stated it would be a good idea to have health programs/interventions within the shop setting. Most noted topics of interest included diet and nutrition, hypertension, and (wo)men's reproductive health. When asked further about these desired topics, both benefits and relevance to customers and the African American community were the reasons for their selections. In addition, across barbershops and salons, 90 % of owners stated interest in having a program implemented in their shop. This information will be used to guide the development of shop-based interventions, with the aid of a community advisory board composed of shop owners, individual barbers and stylists and customers.
Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC, 27835, USA. Hallmarl14@ecu.edu.
Marla B
MB
Hall
Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, NC, 27835, USA.
Tiffany M
TM
Eden
Center for Health Disparities, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Jukelia J
JJ
Bess
Center for Health Disparities, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Hope
H
Landrine
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Irma
I
Corral
Department of Health and Kinesiology, College of Education & Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Jeffrey J
JJ
Guidry
Center for Health Disparities, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Jimmy T
JT
Efird
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001461:Barbering; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina; D012106:Research; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
African American; Disease management; Health planning; Health promotion; Healthcare disparities; Primary prevention