Trial Information

Promoting Physical Activity in Black Barbershops

Black men suffer disproportionately higher rates of nearly all disease categories, including
cancer --the leading cause of death in North Carolina. An estimated 50% of cancer is
preventable with lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activity (PA),
eliminating tobacco use/exposure and maintaining a healthy weight. Evidence suggests that
physical activity can reduce risk to several types of cancer. Innovative ways to reach
Black men with effective health promotion interventions are needed. Barbershops represent
one place where Black men can be reached, but have not been utilized as settings for
intervening to promote physical activity. An experienced, interdisciplinary, partnership
between community members (barbershop owners, barbers and their customers) and researchers
from UNC Chapel Hill/Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Gillings School of
Global Public Health, and North Carolina Central University are conducting a two-phase
outreach study to bridge this gap. Phase 1 is a series of inter-related formative research
studies (in-depth interviews with barbers/owners; observations in shops; focus groups with
customers) leading to the development of a theory and evidence-guided, multi-level physical
activity intervention (FITShop) designed to increase PA among Black men in barbershops.
Using Phase 1 results, Phase 2 is a two-arm, group randomized, initial efficacy trial of the
FITShop intervention in 14 Black barbershops with 40 customers per shop (n=560 total).
Customers in Arm 1 (7 shops, 280 customers) will receive the FITShop intervention which
includes barber training, PA contest in the shop, use of pedometers, community connections
and personal feedback plus recommendations for PA. Customers in Arm 2 (7 shops, 280
customers) will receive a Financial Empowerment (FE) attention-control intervention that
mimics exposure amount without influencing the primary outcome. Consistent with
community-based participatory research principles, an Advisory Board will guide all aspects
of the study planning, development, implementation and analysis of results. The primary
outcome (physical activity) will be measured via accelerometer using a 7-day protocol and
with self-report questionnaires at baseline and 6 months using a previously tested protocol
with Black men recruited from barbershops. All primary/secondary outcomes will be measured
on all customers at an assessment event/via questionnaire prior to randomization (and at 6
mo) using standardized, previously tested protocols. Process evaluation will assess dose of
intervention delivered, received, fidelity, as well as reach, adoption and
representativeness at the customer, barber and barbershop levels. Since barbershops are
located in all communities, if effective, this intervention has promise for dissemination &
sustainability.