Engendering Trust: Efforts to Measure and Increase Trust among African American Men

The goal of this project is to help develop evidence-based approaches to improve the health and health care utilization of African American men. African American men have the highest mortality rates from preventable conditions due, in part, to lower health care utilization than other groups. Although lower utilization is linked to African American men’s mistrust of health care systems, there are substantial evidence gaps on best approaches to measuring trust and mistrust among African American men, which impedes progress toward interventions to improve trust and health-care seeking.  This project will (1) explore how African American men understand and define trust, respect, and trustworthiness in seeking health care, (2) identify the drivers and influencers of this trust, (3) assess what factors influence how African American men perceive that a provider respects them and is worthy of trust, and (4) develop a measure that captures dimensions of trust salient to African American men across the course of life. Deliverables will include a project work plan, annual and final narrative reports, and financial reports. The grants will also produce oral presentations, newsletter and listserv articles as well as scientific papers for peer-reviewed publication.