Evaluating the Fade to Fitness Program: A Barbershop-based Program for Black Men

The Fade to Fitness Program is a group-based and barbershop-based behavioral intervention to improve health-related quality of life among African American men. The program is unique because it is culturally targeted and individually tailored. The culturally targeted content was developed following barbershop-based focus groups. The Fade to Fitness Program targets four behaviors strongly linked to health-related quality of life among African American men - physical activity, healthy eating, stress management, and depression management. During the group-based portion of the program, Motivational Interviewing is used by the facilitator as a conversational approach to enhance participants\' motivation and commitment towards positive behavior change. The goal is to foster intrinsic motivation among participants to engage in these behaviors. It is individually tailored by encouraging participants to identify personal values and linking them to health promoting behaviors.