National Lupus Outreach and Clinical Trail Education Program (Lupus program)-LUPUS CONVERSATIONS Project

African Americans with lupus experience an unusually long journey to obtain an accurate lupus diagnosis resulting in adverse outcomes and health disparities. The purpose of the proposed “Lupus Conversations” project is to develop and test successful culturally-competent lupus education interventions that mitigate these poor outcomes for health professionals, paraprofessionals and community stakeholders and to replicate these interventions at national and local levels. The collaborative academic and community partnerships described in this application will leverage the adaptation of the Popular Opinion Model (POL), a successful application of a CDC behavioral evidence-based model, with the innovative “Lupus Conversations” videos, to address greater social and emotional support issues voiced by African-American female participants and reduce lupus health disparities outcomes at the community-level.