Perspectives on Implementation: Challenges and Successes of a Program Designed to Support Expectant and Parenting Community College Students in Rural, Midwestern State.

Objectives: Expectant and parenting students (EPS) at community colleges are an underserved and often under-resourced group. In a rural, Midwestern state, the department of public health was awarded the Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) grant to assist this population. This paper outlines the results of the implementation evaluation and offers suggestions for programs and evaluators working with this population in the community college setting.

The Speak UP! Salon Project: Using Hair Stylists as Lay Health Educators About Unintended Pregnancy.

The Speak UP! Salon Project trained 126 hair stylists from 60 salons as lay health educators to increase knowledge about contraceptives and inform clients about financial support for long-acting reversible contraceptives at local family planning clinics. Stylists' informal social support system, combined with the rapport built with clients over time, make them excellent candidates for lay health educator projects. This 3-year salon-based intervention was implemented in nine counties in a Midwestern state.

Lessons from the field: A mixed methods analysis of hair stylists' reflections on their experience as lay health educators.

Beauty salons are unique settings to provide community-based health education. The Speak UP! Salon Project trained hair stylists to deliver health messages related to reducing unintended pregnancy to female clients in the 18-30-year age range. The project ran from 2009 through 2011.