Barbershop talk: a hybrid-2 trial examining the effectiveness of a barbershop-placed screening, brief intervention, and referral (SBIRT) intervention.

Haynes T, Lovelady N, Hart C, Hill A, Wells T, Gardner A, Selig J, Cucciare M. Barbershop talk: a hybrid-2 trial examining the effectiveness of a barbershop-placed screening, brief intervention, and referral (SBIRT) intervention. BMC public health. 2026 Apr 1; 26(1):DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-26506-1.

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Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Black men who report unhealthy drinking experience more severe health outcomes and negative social consequences than other racialized groups. Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based, multilevel, integrated public health approach to delivering early intervention services for individuals at risk for unhealthy drinking, as well as the timely referral to more intensive treatment. SBIRTs have been implemented effectively in both primary care and emergency care settings. However, structural barriers to care (i.e., insurance status, culturally competent services, racism, discrimination, geography) may impede Black men’s access to evidence-based care for unhealthy drinking that is often located in medical settings. METHODS: This manuscript describes a protocol for the definitive Hybrid-II implementation trial, which aims to test the effectiveness of an SBIRT program delivered in barbershops and to gather data on strategies to support the successful implementation of this intervention in 60 barbershops. This study employs a wait-list, cluster-randomized, controlled design to assess the effectiveness of SBIRT in reducing the average number of drinking days and the number of unhealthy drinking days. DISCUSSION: This project has the potential to generate knowledge that will lead to improvements in the provision of alcohol interventions within the African American community. Furthermore, the use of the Hybrid-II design has the potential to enhance our understanding of strategies to support the implementation and sustainability of alcohol interventions in African American barbershops. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05609344 https//clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05609344. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-26506-1.