Acceptability of a Salon-Based Intervention to Promote Colonoscopy Screening Among African American Women

African American women have the highest colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates among women of any race/ethnicity in the United States. Colonoscopy screening is an efficacious procedure for the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer, making it a promising tool in the effort to eliminate colorectal cancer disparities. Toward that end, the present qualitative study sought to assess acceptability of and preferences for a beauty salon-based intervention to promote colonoscopy screening among African American women. A total of 11 focus groups were conducted: 6 with staff from African American-serving salons (n = 3 with salon owners, n = 3 with salon stylists) and 5 with African American salon clients. Theory-guided focus group questions were used to explore participants' beliefs, interests, and preferences associated with the proposed intervention. Results indicated that, across all subgroups, participants were highly supportive of the idea of a salon-based intervention to promote colonoscopy screening among African American women, citing reasons such as the commonplace nature of health discussions in salons and the belief that, with proper training, stylists could effectively deliver colorectal cancer-related health information to their clients. The greatest differences between salon staff and clients were found with respect to the specifics of the intervention. Staff focused more heavily on content-related issues, such as the specific information that should be stressed in the intervention, whereas clients focused largely on process-related issues, such as the preferred intervention formats and how stylists should present themselves to clients. The findings from this study offer both encouragement and important groundwork for the development of a salon-based, stylist-delivered intervention to promote colonoscopy screening among African American women.