Received 29 May 2009; received in revised form 6 July 2009; accepted 27 July 2009.
Abstract
Background
Racial and ethnic minorities have lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor control and lower awareness of their CVD risk status despite being at higher risk for the disease. We sought to understand the reach and potential impact of delivering a CVD risk reduction program by Community Health Workers (CHW) in 15 Denver, Colorado barbershops.
Methods
This mixed-methods study analyzed data from CVD screenings of 1674 barbershop clients and from semi-structured interviews with barbershop owners.
Results
In 2 years, two CHWs screened a total of 1674 clients in barbershops for cardiovascular risk, nearly 80% of whom were African American. Screening results indicated that clients visiting barbershops are at risk for CVD and other health conditions. One third of clients had medium or high Framingham risk scores, one-quarter had mildly to severely high blood pressure, 45% had borderline high or high cholesterol, with 75% of clients considered overweight or obese according to BMI. Importantly, 41% of screened clients reported having no prior knowledge of their CVD risk before the screening. Barbershop owners reported many benefits of this screening program on their businesses, clients and personal health.
ABSTRACT