Process Evaluation of North Carolina Trimming Risk in Men (TRIM) Project: Success and challenges of promoting cancer prevention in Black barbershops

The Trimming Risk in Men (TRIM) Project was a delayed intervention randomized controlled trial to test the feasibility of a 3-month barbershop-based intervention that promoted informed decision making among Black men about colorectal and prostate cancer screening. The multi-level intervention incorporated participatory strategies and was built on the social ecological framework. Process evaluation was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the implementation of TRIM intervention. This presentation describes process evaluation results including the degree to which intervention implemented as planned, the participants' exposure to the intervention, and how they reacted to the intervention. We conducted interviews with barbershop owners and barbers (n=16) and surveys among barbershop customers (n=228) at baseline, 3-month and 6-month follow-ups, and evaluations of 4 training workshops for barbers. Results indicate that the barber training workshops produced desired changes in participant knowledge and self-efficacy to deliver cancer prevention messages. In terms of educational display and print materials, 81-88% of customers reported they saw the posters and 48-62% reported they saw the brochures. Once they saw the posters and brochures, most of them were able to recall at least one of the two cancer topics on the posters and/or brochures. Overall, the participants were satisfied with TRIM intervention. Barriers to, and facilitators of, implementation were discussed to improve our understanding of how to develop and implement more effective intervention programs for reaching large numbers of Black men with vital information to help them make informed decisions to reduce their risks for cancer.