Promoting HPV Vaccination Through African American Beauty Salons: a Pilot Test of a Culturally-Competent Education and Empowerment Strategy

The investigators propose a non-randomized pilot study to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of using urban beauty salons as settings for culturally-competent health education about HPV vaccination. The educational messages will engage individual women, their peer group, their family members and community influencers in a way that is authentic and share-able. Involving women in give-and-take discussions with people they trust and respect-their hairdressers-will be essential to increasing the number of them who consider the HPV vaccine for themselves and for those they care about. The investigators believe that it is only after women who are opinion leaders among their peers begin positively supporting HPV prevention that it will gain wider acceptance.

The investigators plan to recruit eight (8) predominantly African American beauty salons in Philadelphia and train multiple stylists in each salon to act as in-salon educators and facilitators for client recruitment to sexual health education sessions. These education sessions will be run by trained health educators (also African American females) and take place during "down times" in each of the salons, on a rotating basis.

• The investigators hypothesize the ability to successfully recruit eight (8) beauty salons for participation
• The investigators hypothesize the ability to successfully train multiple stylists per site to talk to their clients about HPV and its impact on women of color
• The investigators hypothesize that knowledge and awareness of HPV, as well as intentions to vaccinate will significantly improve among women who attend a salon-based health education session