157554 Effect of Spirit Health Education (SHE) Circles: Evaluation of a health promotion intervention designed specifically for African American lesbian and bisexual women (LBW)

Monday, November 5, 2007: 5:24 PM

D. Magrini , Mautner Project The National Lesbian Health Organization, Washington, DC
Kathleen A. Maloy, JD, PhD , Mautner Project The National Lesbian Health Organization, Washington, DC
The Spirit Health Education Circle (SHE-Circle) program is an early detection/cancer education intervention aimed at African American lesbians and bisexual women (LBW). The development of the education program links aspects of African spirituality with information on health and wellness within context of cancer prevention. The design also builds on recent findings from the only national survey of the health practices of African American LBW. SHE-Circle begins with a series of educational sessions that provide support for healthy living by creating a community of women who take ownership and responsibility for their health as well as the health of their sisters. The curriculum design also incorporates healing and expressive arts therapies. Designed to promote the establishment of ongoing support groups, SHE Circles serve as a safe space where African American LBW can learn about pertinent health information, ask questions, share information, obtain resources, and provide support for each other. The project's goal is to increase adoption of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening, healthy lifestyle choices (such as proper nutrition and exercise), and smoking cessation among African American LBW. During the fourth year of the project, SHE Circle evaluation strategies are assessing the implementation and replication of SHE Circles. Evaluation questions include these areas of focus: (1) how appealing and/or compelling is the African spirituality design, (2) what are useful short-term measures of effect, (3) what are effective formats for on-going SHE Circles, (4) what role does the ‘Tuskegee effect' play in implementing a health intervention aimed at African American LBW.

Learning Objectives:
Persons attending this session will be able to (1) describe key elements of a health promotion program designed for African American lesbian and bisexual women, (2) discuss how and why the SHE Circle intervention accounts for unique characteristics of African American women who love women in seeking to affect health behavior change, (3) assess the evaluation strategies used to measure the effect of SHE Circle, (4) articulate how the design of effective health behavior interventions must recognize and incorporate specific/unique characteristics of the target population.

Keywords: Lesbian Health, Health Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

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.