Health screenings, haircuts, and HIV
Written by Kattrina Hancy Friday, 13 November 2009 16:06
Screenings for cardiovascular disease at the local barber shop? Health education on city buses? HIV prevention messages in migrant farmworker communities? Health care and education should not be limited to the doctor's office. Many people are not able to go to a doctor or visit a health clinic on a regular basis, so organizations, including Farmworker Justice, are finding new and innovative ways to promote messages about healthy lifestyles to populations of people who are less likely to have access to traditional health care facilities.
Last week the Chronicle of Philanthropy featured an article about an organization that needed a new way to reach African American men to raise their awareness about prostate cancer. The St. Louis affiliate of 100 Black Men was already doing outreach in churches, but they soon realized that although they were reaching a lot of women, they were still not reaching the men. So, they headed to the barber shop. Nurses and 100 Black Men representatives screened people for hypertension, gave out nutritional advice, and even had prostate-cancer survivors share their experiences. The project was a resounding success.
Health outreach projects such as these are popping up all over the U.S., and even internationally. The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program is doing a similar barber shop project, but with cardiovascular screening. The Women's Collaborative, a program of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, is doing HIV education in beauty salons. Even the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is sponsoring HIV education in barber shops and beauty salons in the capital of Guyana.
Our new HIV prevention program targeting rural Latino communities is based on a similar idea. Using a model of community education called promotores de salud programs, we are training community health organizations to train people to promote messages about healthy lifestyles in their own communities. FJ has been involved with these types of HIV prevention programs since the beginning of our work on health issues. Because many people from rural Latino communities don't make it to the health clinic on a regular basis, these programs are a great way to bring the message of HIV prevention to the people. Learn more about our work on HIV prevention in farmworker communities on our website.
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