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"Gentlemen, Check Your Engines"
Background
Prostate Cancer is still an issue of negative impact in our communities given that it is the major cause of cancer death in men and has an even more devastating impact on Black men with age-adjusted prostate cancer death rates for Blacks over twice those for whites, and for the last five years have been nearly two and a half times those for whites.
One way to at least partially address this situation is to create successful outreach programs, which educate men in order for them to make informed decisions about their personal risk of the disease as well as other conditions affecting their health. The event will facilitate obtaining more information on how better to manage their health options, and enhancing communications between men and their healthcare providers using the Harley-Davidson dealerships as a network of trust. Additionally the on-site screening and educational programs will provide initial better access to and participation in the health care system.
The Prostate Net piloted this initiative in February 2008 as part of the Bergen County Cancer Coalition and in partnership with the local Harley-Davidson dealership. The initial effort brought almost 80 men and women into the showroom where they circulated through health stations and mobile health van provided by the North Hudson FQHC, received a custom bandanna from The Prostate Net and socialized in the dealership for almost the full time of the event. The theme is a trademark now of The Prostate Net and we are moving to expand it in 2009.
Promotion
The basic concept behind this initiative is that men pay more attention to their cars,
motorcycles and other toys than to their personal health. The program focuses on generating advance awareness of a health fair that will be held in the Harley-Davidson dealership and motivating men to come to the fair for health information and screenings.
Information and invitation will be generated through email blasts utilizing the shared databases of The Prostate Net and Harley-Davidson plus local print and electronic advertising to deliver the health message and encourage attendance. Local medical center and/or FQHC's partners will be on-site to do BMI, cholesterol, BP, skin, oral and prostate cancer screenings.
Going forward we are looking to expand the effort into a "Gentlemen, Check Your
Engines Day" in New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta. The date for the event will be February 7, 2009. We already have four NJ counties committed to the effort and have interest from our partners in Chicago and Atlanta.
Proposed 2009 Program Roll-out:
Building on the success of our initial implementation, we are planning to expand the program into Atlanta, Chicago and an expansion in New Jersey. We plan to have the program occur in February to take advantage of the media awareness at that time for, Men's Health Month, Minority Health Month and Black History Month. The Chicago and Atlanta programs will have the contingency of launching the effort in June or September consistent with Father's Day and/or Prostate Cancer Awareness activities.
An important tangent to the basic core promotional effort will be the introduction of a "Father-son" component, along with a women's initiative, to encourage greater male participation in the educational component as well as to lay the foundation for educational enhancement of the disease risk within a younger audience that will, hopefully, be more willing to participate in the healthcare system as they age into prime risk age groups.
Supporting media awareness efforts will include:
- Radio advertising on local stations
- Syndicated news release to the media in the targeted regions
- Article in The Knowledge Net "In The Know" newsletter
- Programmatic details in the Knowledge Net section of our Website to inform local public health professionals, support group leaders, etc. on how to replicate the program in their service regions
- PodCast interviews with survivor or at-risk participants talking about the experience of living with, or the fear of contracting, the disease; will be posted on Prostate Net and Knowledge Net Websites and distributed through disparate PodCast sites and health blogs
- PodCast with local Harley-Davidson dealer representative talking of the importance of the event in supporting the community will be placed in the Knowledge Net section of our Website to guide community leaders in working with their local dealers to replicate the effort
- Consumer incentive for participating in the health fair
Correlative Support:
Given the presence of multiple co-morbid health conditions in these communities, it is equally important to address the concerns of:
- diabetes
- Osteoporosis and/or loss of bone mass
- BPH (enlarged prostate)
- Erectile dysfunction
- Colorectal cancer
- hormonal therapies
- Allergy, pneumonia and associated respiratory conditions
- Other conditions of negative men's health impact
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