Community-academic partnerships: lessons learned from replicating a salon-based health education and promotion program.

BACKGROUND: We present a model of a community-academic partnership formed to replicate a unique salon-based health education and promotion program among African-American and Latino communities in Philadelphia. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to describe the partnership principles established and lessons learned in replicating the salon-based program that sought to develop a cadre of community-academic partners and build community-based organizations' (CBOs) capacity to implement and evaluate the program. METHODS: As the lead organization, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), formed a partnership with two CBOs, three universities, and 17 salons. Guiding principles were established to manage the large collaborative and ensure success. LESSONS LEARNED: By embracing a common mission and principles of understanding, co-learning, building capacity and sharing responsibility and recognition, this partnership was able to achieve positive outcomes. Challenges faced were related to replication, CBO infrastructure, data management capacity, and other process issues. CONCLUSIONS: Despite challenges, we created and sustained an enduring partnership and brought positive change to the community. Lessons learned highlight issues to examine before furthering this work such as fostering trust and building meaningful relationships.

Hair salon stylists as breast cancer prevention lay health advisors for African American and Afro-Caribbean women.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of breast health promoting messages administered by salon stylists to clients in the salon setting. METHODS: Forty salons in an urban, minority area were randomly assigned to provide messages to clients or to serve as controls. Pre-intervention surveys were completed by 1,185 salon clients. Following program initiation, assessments of 1,210 clients were conducted. RESULTS: Among women completing surveys at control salons, 10% reported exposure to breast health messages, as opposed to 37% at experimental salons (OR 5.4, 95% CI 3.7-7.9). Self-reported exposure to stylist-delivered messages was associated with improved breast self-examination rates (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.1) and with greater intentions to have a clinical breast examination (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.3). CONCLUSION: Hair salons are a potentially important venue for promotion of health behaviors related to breast cancer detection.