Chair Care Trusted Messengers are hair stylists who are committed to supporting healthy communities.

Research tells us that who a message comes from is just as important – if not more - than what the content of the message is*. Chair Care TMs play a critical role in sharing the facts about vaccination with their clients because their clients trust them. TMs can talk with their clients about vaccinations in a more relaxed, conversational way than traditional authority figures or healthcare providers sometimes can.

Source: https://www.adcouncil.org/tmstudy

Many hair stylists are already addressing health-related issues with their clients during a regular salon visit. Chair Care will not take time from the service being provided. Instead, the stylist as a TM receives the tools to feel more confident having conversations about vaccine hesitancy and long COVID-19 if the client is willing to have such a conversation.

The program will include two full-day in-person trainings to develop core knowledge and skills. Participation is required. Twice-monthly hour-long virtual evening meetings will be required to receive content updates and program support. This meeting schedule will be determined with TM input. Once a week, stylists will spend 30 to 45 minutes submitting their data and feedback. In April 2024, TMs will participate in an in-person half-day program debriefing. Overall program commitment is approximately six months.

Chair Care will train participating hairstylists as TMs in the following content: 1) motivational interviewing, 2) COVID-19 basics, 3) flu basics and 4) long COVID-19 basics. Training will also include using evaluation feedback and data tools, as well as other kinds of program support. Meals and snacks will be provided.

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based and culturally sensitive approach to helping people manage mixed feelings and move toward healthy behavior change that is consistent with their values and needs. Through the in-person trainings and twice-monthly virtual meetings, TMs will learn how to apply MI techniques in a way that increases interest in behavioral changes associated with better health outcomes, with a specific focus on vaccine hesitancy and vaccine uptake.

Chair Care was designed using New Mexico Department of Health vaccine data reports. That data shows New Mexico’s Latinx/Hispanic, Black/African American, Native/Tribal and politically conservative populations have the lowest vaccine uptake and/or highest vaccine hesitancy.

Partners for this project are Presbyterian Community Health, a hair stylist and private salon owner as a program consultant, a medical doctor from University of New Mexico School of Medicine specializing in vaccines and vaccination education, University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center for program evaluation, and Serna Solutions for MI training. Of course, additional partners include hair stylists as TMs in priority counties who are committed to using their voice to increase COVID-19 and flu vaccination rates in their communities.

The Chair Care program is a Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) grant through NMDOH. By applying to participate in this program you acknowledge that, if selected, you will receive a one-time participant stipend that is contingent on grant funding.