Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Outreach Strategies To Recruit Low-Income African American Men To Participate In Health Promotion Programs And Research: Lessons From The Men Of Color Health Awareness (Mocha) Project, Louis F. Graham, Lamont Scott, Erus Lopeyok, Henry Douglas, Aline Gubrium, David Buchanan

Health Promotion and Policy Faculty Publication Series

African American men continue to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of disease. Engaging these men in health research and health promotion programs—especially lower-income, African American men who are vulnerable to chronic disease conditions such as obesity and heart disease—has historically proven quite difficult for researchers and public health practitioners. The few effective outreach strategies identified in the literature to date are largely limited to recruiting through hospital clinics, churches, and barbershops. The Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA) project is a grassroots, community-driven initiative that has developed a number of innovative outreach strategies. After describing these strategies, we …