Barbershops as a Gateway to Elevating Reproductive Well being for Black Males
By Danielle Moore, DSW-C, LCSW | Submitted to Males’s Well being Community
(The opinions inside this weblog don’t essentially mirror the views and opinions of MHN).
You possibly can really feel it within the pause when somebody asks, “Are you planning to have children?”
You possibly can see it within the compelled smile. The shoulder shrug. The topic change.
He didn’t communicate up, not as a result of he didn’t care, however as a result of he didn’t suppose he may.
Questions on fertility, issues about efficiency, the unsettling feeling that one thing wasn’t proper, however nowhere felt protected sufficient to say it out loud. Like many Black males, he held these questions quietly. And in that silence, he carried the burden of stigma, confusion, and unmet ache.
I’ve witnessed the burden of that silence. As a medical social employee and therapist, I’ve seen it sitting closely on purchasers’ shoulders. I’ve witnessed it in group areas, the place males’s laughter hides ache. And lived it out in my own residence as my husband and I navigated the isolating actuality of male-factor infertility collectively.
This isn’t a narrative about silence. It’s about what occurs once we create areas that make it protected for males to talk. It’s about listening with care, responding with intention, and amplifying the voices which have gone unheard for a lot too lengthy.
Males’s Reproductive Well being Deserves Public Consideration, Not Personal Struggling
Infertility and erectile dysfunction are two critical reproductive well being challenges impacting males, but they continue to be among the many least acknowledged, particularly amongst Black communities. Though male-factor infertility contributes to 50% of infertility instances within the U.S., Black males are considerably under-evaluated and underserved.
Semen evaluation research underscore this disparity. Walker et al. discovered that 54% of Black males evaluated had low semen high quality in comparison with 24% of White males, and knowledge from Redmon et al. emphasised that whole semen counts amongst Black males had been 50% decrease than males of different racial teams. Chen et al. additional documented that Black males face longer delays in looking for reproductive well being evaluations, a actuality pushed by structural boundaries, stigma, and the enduring legacy of medical discrimination. Black males are sometimes referred to later, if in any respect, reinforcing the sense that their reproductive well being is secondary.
However the statistics solely inform a part of the story. However these should not simply medical points. They have an effect on psychological well being, self-worth, identification, and relationships. When Black males are ignored of reproductive well being conversations, or solely included as a footnote, it sends a false message that their well being doesn’t matter, which reinforces a harmful cycle of stigma, silence, and struggling. This is the reason it’s crucial to switch that narrative with changed with one that’s extra highly effective and true
Roots, Treatments & Reproductive Well being:
Centering Care in Group
Roots, Treatments & Reproductive Well being (RRR) is a community-rooted well being promotion initiative designed to carry reproductive well being schooling instantly into trusted, culturally grounded areas, beginning with the barbershop. Our pilot launched in Inglewood, California, the place barbers function extra than simply groomers. They’re mentors, huge brothers, and group anchors. Many had been already listening to about issues associated to emphasize, sexual efficiency, and relationship pressure, however lacked the instruments to reply confidently or share credible assets.
We constructed on this basis by reworking the barbershop, already a culturally wealthy place of help, right into a platform for open, knowledgeable, and empowering conversations. Drawing from evidence-based methods by Releford et al. and Harley et al., which affirm the effectiveness of barbershops as websites for culturally related well being engagement, we created a full academic expertise tailor-made to the lived realities of Black males.
Culturally responsive toolkits included A Fast Information to Males’s Reproductive Well being, which offered judgment-free data on infertility, erectile dysfunction, holistic cures, and emotional wellness. The Barbers Information to Reproductive Well being Conversations provided steerage for barbers to steer peer-based discussions in a means that felt pure and respectful. These instruments had been paired with an on-site presentation protecting root causes, signs, therapy choices, and holistic methods, all grounded in cultural relevance and group belief.
However this was not only a well being presentation.
Males had been in a position to communicate brazenly, ask trustworthy questions, and obtain actual solutions, and since the conversations had been co-facilitated by trusted barbers, they felt comfy partaking.
Why This Issues:
A Private and Skilled Name
The motivation behind this initiative is each private {and professional}. My coaching as a medical social employee helped me acknowledge the systemic gaps. However residing by means of these gaps made all of it too not possible to disregard.
When my husband and I started looking for help for infertility, the medical lens pointed instantly at me as the main target. As a lady, I used to be handled as the first affected person. I obtained the evaluations, the referrals, and the follow-up care, whereas his reproductive well being was delayed, downplayed, and largely ignored. His evaluations got here later. His issues had been dismissed. His expertise, his physique, and his feelings had been handled as an afterthought.
Even amongst our closest circles, the topic was extraordinary and was not talked about. We had no blueprint, no shared language, and no group mannequin for how one can navigate male infertility. That sort of invisibility wears on you. It convinces you that your battle is uncommon, that your ache is unstated for, and that possibly you’re simply purported to determine it out alone.
We refused that narrative. And that refusal turned a basis of this initiative.
Black males deserve entry to reproductive care that acknowledges their full humanity. They need to be met with competence, not confusion. With compassion, not dismissal. With a pathway ahead, not indifference.
Even once we reached out for help, it was disheartening to search out that many suppliers lacked coaching or cultural understanding to have interaction males, particularly Black males, on these delicate points.
That have didn’t simply expose what was lacking. It made clear what needed to change. Black males want credible data, culturally responsive care, and areas the place they are often susceptible with out disgrace. Not as an afterthought or secondary voice, however as complete people navigating advanced emotional, bodily, and relational realities.
Barbershops as Websites of Energy and Transformation
What we discovered within the barbershop wasn’t simply openness, it was momentum. When reproductive well being schooling is introduced into areas already grounded in cultural identification and connection, Black males reply. They ask questions. They share tales. They move on assets. And most significantly, they take motion.
Barbers stepped into the function of advocates. With each dialog, they helped dismantle stigma, affirm that well being is power, and normalize the reality that Black males’s wellness issues. These interactions weren’t compelled. They flowed naturally, rooted in belief, familiarity, and cultural fluency. They usually sparked a ripple impact no medical brochure may match.
The affect was clear. Analysis knowledge revealed that 90% of individuals reported elevated data of reproductive well being following the occasion. Greater than 85% mentioned they felt extra assured initiating conversations with their companions, and lots of expressed better willingness to hunt medical care and discover holistic cures launched in the course of the session.
Qualitatively, the suggestions was simply as highly effective. Males described the expertise as “empowering,” “eye-opening,” and “lengthy overdue.” For a number of, it was the primary time they’d mentioned reproductive well being in a public area, and the primary time they understood the place to show for assist. Barbers who co-facilitated the classes spoke with satisfaction about enjoying an important function of their group’s well-being. With instruments and data now at their fingertips, they felt able to maintain the dialog going.
Roots, Treatments & Reproductive Well being proves that when Black males are met with culturally grounded schooling, affirming areas, and community-rooted management, the result’s greater than consciousness. It’s transformation. The barbershop turns into a website of power and transformation, the place silence is changed with motion, and therapeutic begins, one dialog at a time.
Wanting Ahead:
From Pilot to Motion
This initiative will not be a one-time occasion. It’s a part of a broader effort to amplify reproductive well being conversations within the on a regular basis areas the place males join, whether or not at residence, in religion communities, on the gymnasium, and on-line. Whereas this initiative was created by and for Black males, the mannequin is designed to be adaptable. We envision increasing this work to serve different males of colour who face comparable boundaries, stigma, and invisibility in reproductive care.
We’re rising the attain of our toolkits and workshops, creating animated movies and mobile-accessible assets, and getting ready peer-reviewed publications to carry these points into tutorial {and professional} areas which have traditionally ignored males’s reproductive well being. We’re additionally constructing partnerships with suppliers, educators, and group advocates who acknowledge the urgency and need to be a part of the answer. This work is a motion to re-imagine how we discuss, educate, and help reproductive wellness for males from all walks of life. And when males are knowledgeable, supported, and empowered, the affect radiates outward, strengthening households, communities, and programs.
An Invitation to Be part of the Motion
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To Black males: Your well being will not be invisible. Your issues are actual. Your story deserves to be heard, honored, and centered—not sometime, however proper now.
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To barbers: Thanks. You’re greater than a group touchpoint. You’re healers, leaders, and trusted voices. This initiative builds on the work you’ve all the time finished. We’re right here to stroll with you, amplify your affect, and be sure you have the instruments you want.
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To healthcare professionals and researchers: Your knowledge is incomplete with out us. Reproductive well being equality requires that you simply develop your lens, problem your assumptions, and put money into culturally grounded care. The absence of Black males in your work will not be a niche; it’s a name for higher engagement approaches.
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To funders and decision-makers: That is what transformation seems to be like. It begins locally. It listens first. It responds with proof, compassion, and motion. That is rooted in actual individuals, and it’s occurring proper now.
We’re Not Simply Elevating Consciousness.
We’re Elevating the Quantity.
This isn’t a whisper rising louder. It is a highly effective wave, carrying reality, tales, and alter.
With each workshop and each dialog, we’re amplifying a message that has been ignored for a lot too lengthy: Black males’s reproductive well being issues. Not as a footnote. Not as a delayed concern. However as an important and pressing a part of the well being.
We aren’t ready for permission to be included. We’re main the dialog, creating area, and elevating the quantity, in order that no man ought to ever need to undergo in silence or stroll this journey alone.
Creator Bio:
Danielle Moore, LCSW, is a medical social employee, educator, and Physician of Social Work candidate with a ardour for reproductive well being. She is the founding father of Infinite Alignments Wellness Options and creator of the Roots, Treatments & Reproductive Well being initiative—a culturally responsive, barbershop-based program that empowers Black males by means of schooling, dialog, and group help.
With over 15 years of Social Work expertise, Danielle Moore, DSW-C LCSW, has devoted her profession to advancing well being fairness, delivering trauma-informed care, and growing progressive, wellness options for marginalized populations. Her work spans psychological well being, healthcare, and community-based apply, with a powerful dedication to culturally responsive approaches. Mrs. Moore earned a Bachelor of Science in Felony Justice from California State College, Lengthy Seashore in 2008, adopted by a Grasp of Science in Social Work from the identical establishment in 2010. She is at present pursuing her Physician of Social Work at California Baptist College, the place her analysis focuses on male infertility and erectile dysfunction amongst Black males—a largely invisible public well being difficulty formed by stigma, cultural silence, and systemic inequities. Her skilled background consists of medical and consulting roles throughout healthcare and community-based organizations. She at present serves as a Senior Social Employee on the Loma Linda VA Healthcare System, supporting the well being and wellness of Veterans and caregivers by means of the Caregiver Help Program.
Mrs. Moore is the developer of Roots, Treatments & Reproductive Well being: Empowering Black Males by means of Group Conversations, a community-based, health-promotion innovation designed to cut back stigma, enhance consciousness, and promote actionable options round males’s reproductive well being. She efficiently piloted this initiative in a South Los Angeles barbershop in April 2025, utilizing culturally grounded and evidence-informed methods to have interaction individuals. Her long-term targets embody increasing entry to wellness schooling and reproductive well being assets, contributing to the physique of revealed data, and constructing sustainable, evidence-based options that help the holistic well-being of underserved communities.
Remedy Web site: www.infinitealignmentstherapy.com
Wellness Web site: www.infinitealignmentswellness.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/daniellemooreLCSW