142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

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Reaching men of color through the women in their lives: Lessons learned from the M-PACT Project

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 1:15 PM - 1:30 PM

Darlene Saunders, PhD, MPH, MCHES , Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD
Cheryl L. Holt, PhD , Department of Behavioral and Community Health; School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Jimmie Slade, MA , Community Health Ministry of Prince George's County, Upper Marlboro, MD
Daisy Le, MPH, MA , Department of Behavioral & Community Health (BCH) - CHAMP Lab, University of Maryland, College Park - School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Bettye Muwwakkil, M.TTS, PhD , Access to Wholistic and Productive Living Institute Inc., Seabrook, MD
Rev. Alma D. Savoy, MA , Community Health Ministry of Prince George's County, Upper Marlboro, MD
Min Qi Wang, PhD , School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Ralph Williams, BS , Access to Wholistic and Productive Living Institute Inc, Workplace, Seabrook, MD
Michael Naslund, MD , University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Michael Naslund, MD , University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Tony L. Whitehead, PhD, MsHyg , Anthropology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD
In health promotion research and practice, the emphasis on men of color lags behind the focus on other demographic subgroups, even though African American men suffer a disproportionate burden of diseases such as prostate cancer, relative to other men.  This may be in part because public health researchers and practitioners lack effective strategies to reach men of color.  For many men, the women in their lives serve as the gatekeeper of health in the family2, in some cases making healthcare appointments for the men.  This suggests that men’s health promotion interventions may be enhanced by including the support of female family members.   


In the Men’s Prostate Awareness Church Training (M-PACT) project, lay male community health advisors (CHAs) in African American churches received training in a men’s health curriculum focusing on informed decision making for prostate cancer screening.  The CHAs conducted a 4-part educational workshop series for their male church members.   Given the importance of women in medical decision-making and healthcare accessing among men, the M-PACT intervention 
1) included both men and women as CHAs; and 2) asked male workshop participants to invite a female “Health Partner” (e.g., spouse/partner, sister, daughter) to attend the workshops with them.   The current report focuses on the feasibility of recruiting women into a prostate cancer educational intervention for African American men, and lessons learned during the implementation of 76 workshops in 20 churches.  Implications for community-based men’s health promotion will be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the potentially important role that women play in men’s health through support and accessing the healthcare system. Describe the process, challenges, and lessons learned for recruiting women into a men’s health promotion intervention. Assess whether the inclusion of women as “health partner” may increase the efficacy of informed decision making for prostate cancer screening among African American men.

Keyword(s): Cancer and Men’s Health, Community-Based Research (CBPR)

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the program director for the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training (M-PACT) randomized controlled trial. I manage all aspects of the M-PACT research protocols, conduct formative research in churches, act as liaison between the university and community partners, assist in data analysis, develops educational materials and technical reports, make presentations to disseminate research findings, and prepare manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.