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The President’s Cancer Panel of the National Institutes of Health
in 2001 clearly stated, “Lack of accurate cancer-related information
that is readily available, understandable, clear and delivered in
a sensitive and culturally acceptable manner is a major contributor
to the inability of patients and the public to obtain the most appropriate
cancer prevention, treatment and supportive care.” This program
will address these areas of concern and negative impact within the
targeted communities.
The situations noted above had not appreciably improved by February
2004 when The Prostate Net launched its BarberShop Initiative™
in conjunction with MGM Studios and their release of the movie sequel,
“Barbershop II”. Our program set the foundation for developing
a network to provide culturally credible, disease-specific, information
within minority communities manifesting high levels of negative impact
from the disease. The program targeted selected medical centers serving
these minority communities and engaged them to achieve a higher level
of community and patient service by recruiting and training local
barbers from the affected service area to function as lay health educators
and patient navigators to motivate their constituencies to participate
in the healthcare system.
The barber and his shop have had an important position within minority
communities as a place of economic creation, political espousement,
social interaction and where free and open discourse occurs. Effectively
tapping into the opinion leadership of the barber to inform and
influence his/her clients and neighbors will more effectively reduce
and/or eliminate cultural barriers to participation than any message
from the traditional health care establishment.
Historically, educational and outreach efforts to Black communities
for health screening or clinical trials have proven problematical,
with limited community and individual participation. Nevertheless,
when such efforts are made using sources trusted in the community,
delivering culturally appropriate messages, they have been shown
to be successful. A number of studies have shown the value of community-based
educational and screening interventions concerning various health
issues among Blacks.
The Prostate Net launched its BarberShop Initiative™ to set the
foundation for developing a network to provide culturally credible,
disease-specific, information within minority communities manifesting
high levels of negative impact from the disease. The program targeted
selected medical centers serving these minority communities and
engaged them to achieve a higher level of community and patient
service by recruiting and training local barbers from the affected
service area to function as lay health educators and patient navigators
to motivate their constituencies to participate in the healthcare
system.
Effectively tapping into the opinion leadership of the barber to
inform and influence his/her clients and neighbors will more effectively
reduce and/or eliminate cultural barriers to participation than
any message from the traditional health care establishment.
FUNDING SOURCES:
The greatest ideas become reality only with the proper, and necessary,
influx of funds to implement the plans. Apart from seeking funding
it is equally important to determine the type of funds to request,
the source to which you make the request, meeting the criteria of
the funding organization and the business structure that you set for
yourself.
The major categories of funders will fall into the following:
Government: Federal, State and local
Foundations: private and corporate
Corporations: Public, Private and non-profit
Charities: Private individuals or affinity groups
Your initial search should focus on your own business objectives,
corporate structure and how they might match with the stakes that
each of the above sectors hold within your service region as well
as with the objectives/parameters of each funding group.
Some good places to start are:
The Foundation Center
Guidestar
Charity Advantage
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Federal Government Grant Opportunities
Contact us to help customize a program for your market, consumers, patients and/or health service objectives.
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Barbershop Initiative Computer Kiosk Locations
::Coming Soon::
North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Michigan,
California.
"Recognizing that a barber is often someone with whom men talk about anything, Virgil has a hunch that barbers would be ideal agents in a word of mouth campaign. Virgil¹s hunch paid off."
WOMMA PodCast
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