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(Children’s Health Defense) — Public health agencies are funding a New Mexico program to train and pay local hairstylists working in privately owned salons to promote COVID-19 and flu vaccines to their clients.

The “Chair Care” program trains these “trusted messengers” to target New Mexico’s Hispanic, Black, Native American and conservative populations who have been shown to have the lowest vaccine uptake and highest “vaccine hesitancy.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New Mexico Department of Public Health (NMDOH) are funding the program, which is run by Presbyterian Community Health and Better Together New Mexico, an NMDOH initiative that connects local organizations to do vaccine outreach throughout the state.

Other partners in the grant program include an unnamed doctor, a salon, a hairstylist and an Albuquerque company, Serna Solutions, which provides behavioral health training.

The program is training hairstylists to spread the agencies’ vetted messaging on vaccines to the public. The “trusted messenger” strategy is based on the assumption that people tend to trust such figures more than they trust public health authorities, according to the project website, which states:

Hairstylists who sign up for a six-month commitment participate in two day-long trainings where they receive tools so they can “feel more confident” talking to their clients about taking vaccines.

They will be trained in motivational interviewing, COVID-19 basics, flu basics and long COVID basics.

After the initial training, the hairstylists are required to participate in twice-monthly virtual meetings to receive updated content and program support. At the end of the six-month program, they participate in a half-day debrief.

They also spend 30-45 minutes per week submitting data on their client interactions. The program website doesn’t indicate what types of data they are collecting.

Participants receive a one-time participant stipend, but the amount is also not specified on the website.

Better Together offers grants of up to $300,000 for proposals like Chair Care designed to circulate “vetted vaccine information” or increase access to vaccines for New Mexicans. All projects must include a focus on COVID-19 vaccination.

According to Psychology Today, it is a counseling method used to help people decide to change their behavior, and it is particularly effective with people who are ambivalent, or even hostile. It can be effective in one or two sessions.

Originally developed for people with substance abuse disorders, the method is now applied broadly in healthcare, psychotherapy, correctional and counseling settings, according to the American Psychological Association.

The clinician – or in this case, the hairstylist – is meant to listen, show empathy and support for the idea that someone can change, and help people think about how they can do so.

The goal is to guide the communication in order to direct people in a way that is “respectful and curious.”

The CDC provides a script for healthcare professionals to implement the methodology to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake on its website. It also provides training in this method for clinicians working with HIV patients, opioid users and the elderly.

This article was originally published by The Defender – Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.