With men accounting for two-thirds of new HIV infections among blacks in the U.S., the University of Pennsylvania researchers looked for the best way to reach the population about safe sex. They found the barber’s chairs.
The Shape Up! Barbers Building Better Brothers program launched in 2009 as a one-on-one intervention with Philadelphia -area barbers and young black men. The program is intended to get young black men educated about their risk for sexually transmitted infection, and to communicate with their partners about negotiating condom use.
Population of focus: Young black men in Philadelphia, PA
Links to resources:
- Power point presentation on the intervention (pdf)
- Press release on University of Pennsylvania website
- Description of program on newsletter – The Nation’s Health January 2014 (pdf)
- Abstract of journal article – “The black man’s country club”: assessing the feasibility of an HIV risk-reduction program for young heterosexual African American men in barbershops
Date: 2009
Organization: University of Pennsylvania