IMR Press / JOMH / Volume 17 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/jomh.2021.087
Open Access Original Research
Willingness to participate in adapted pain and disease self-management programs: evaluating preferences of Black men
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1 Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
2 Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
*Correspondence: philip.huang@ku.edu (Philip Huang); tamara_baker@med.unc.edu (Tamara A. Baker)
J. Mens. Health 2021, 17(4), 84–91; https://doi.org/10.31083/jomh.2021.087
Submitted: 24 March 2021 | Accepted: 11 May 2021 | Published: 30 September 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Background and objective: The health of Black men continues to be a discussion of public health concern. To address this concern, this exploratory study aimed to assess Black men’s willingness and preferences for participating in tailored pain and/or disease self-management programs.

Materials and methods: Three program designs were presented, with varying delivery modalities. Participants responded to a series of questions regarding the content and form of program implementation. A total of 75 Black men, with an average age of 57 (SD = 14.8) years, were included for study participation.

Results: Responses to a set of closed- and open-ended questions showed that less than one-third (29.3%) had never heard of chronic disease self-management programs, with another 77.3% never participating in a self-management program. Overall, the majority of the men preferred receiving health information from books (73.3%) or brochures (74.7%). Few (15.0%) preferred receiving health advice from family. More than one-third however, preferred receiving information from friends (38.7%) or a religious leader (33.3%).

Conclusion: Results from this study contribute to our understanding of how more effective programming and systems tailored to the health needs of this gendered population is needed in order to promote safe and cost-effective approaches to prevention and treatment efforts.

Keywords
Black men
Pain
Self-management programs
Chronic disease
Healthcare disparities
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