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Get your hair cut and some health education!

Bayatae Abraham1, Marcus Murray2, and Craig Spivey, MSW2. (1) Woodlawn Clinic, Project Brotherhood, 6337 S Woodlawn, Chicago, IL 60637, 312-747-7742, yblood44@tmail.com, (2) Woodlawn Health Center, Project Brotherhood, Woodlawn Health Center, 6337 S Woodlawn, Chicago, IL 60637

Problem:Black men are infrequent visitors to medical providers, and therefore preventative medicine is ineffective when trying to impact this community of men. However, black men seek medical attention when persuaded by family or friends, or when problems have escalated beyond control. Developing outreach programs to integrate these men into health services has been difficult.

Methods: Project Brotherhood, a multidisciplinary clinic designed to integrating black men into health care has incorporated a barber shop into the medical facility. In an effort to implement medical outreach via different avenues, Project Brotherhood has trained a barber not only to improve the men's physical outlook and self confidence by giving a free quality hair cut, but also to get medical training to facilitate bilateral discussions of health and well being during the hair cutting process. The barber will conduct a pre & post test on reproductive health after undergoing an intensive HIV/Aids training program. The barber will also undergo a health education training programs to facilitate referrals to different disciplines of Project Brotherhood. Outside of providing quality, free hair cuts, our goal is to facilitate increased referrals into other disciplines of Project Brotherhood.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objective