Navigation auf uzh.ch
Navigation auf uzh.ch
Hair salons may offer a safe community space to engage young women and address barriers related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH). In settings such as Lesotho (Southern Africa), where young women face enormous SRH challenges, innovative and accessible spaces besides traditional health facility settings are urgently needed. HIV- and pregnancy-related complications are still the leading cause of death among young women in high HIV prevalence settings in sub-Saharan Africa. While the needs may be different in Switzerland, Black hair salons may likewise offer a unique venue to address key health issues.
However, no data exists from Lesotho nor Switzerland. The project planned a cross-sectional survey – designed together with citizen scientists – in Lesotho and smaller survey in Switzerland to gather data on offering SRH services in hair salons.
The project team aimed to assess acceptability and feasibility of promoting SRH services (e.g., family planning, HIV/STI prevention) in hair salons, explore the role of stylists, and compare the findings, including the citizen scientist approach itself, between the two settings. Follow-up plans include a multi-country cluster-randomized trial.
The project applied a Citizen Science, co-created project approach. Two lead citizen scientists (Black hair salon experts) were part of the research team, a citizen scientist working group was regularly consulted, and the ca. 100 individual citizen scientists (hair salon stylists) have collected the main data in a decentralized manner.
Based on the findings of this nationwide, Citizen Science mixed methods study, offering HIV/SRH services in hair salons in Lesotho appears to be both acceptable and feasible, positioning hair salons as safe community spaces for such services, with many participants feeling less judged at the salon compared to clinics. A pilot is warranted to translate these findings into practice and funding for such is pending.
Thanks to the diverse output of the project, scientific and non-scientific, the results have reached a vast audience and created awareness for the topic, helping us going forward with the idea. The Citizen Science approach with the > 150 individual stylists / citizen scientists ensured a successful fast recruitment of all participants. The citizen scientist working group supported the project at all stages of the project, they reviewed and improved the research tools, formulated recommendations based on the results, which influenced the interpretation of the findings, and the created creative content that was accessible to the local community (photo story, video documentary, short films).
