Hair, Heart & Health

Hair, Heart & Health (HHH) trains barbers and stylists to conduct blood pressure and obesity screening right in their shops to help identify individuals at risk for heart disease, stroke and end-stage kidney disease. The program was launched in Baltimore in 2006 through collaboration with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and expanded to Washington, D.C. in 2007 through collaboration with MedStar Research Institute. In order to reach African American adults, for whom coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death, shops and salons within communities with high African-American populations are recruited to participate in the program. Hair care professionals are trained to use necessary equipment to screen for high blood pressure, take height and weight measurements for use in calculating Body Mass Index (BMI) to screen for obesity, and provide health counseling and medical referrals to health care providers or designated health clinics as appropriate based on screening results.

The Hair, Heart & Health program embraces the notion that health education at the community level is an effective intervention strategy for preventable diseases like CHD, stroke and kidney disease.

Among 1,805 participants screened at 13 participating shops and salons in Baltimore, 80% of individuals screened for the first time reported at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Of individuals who had no previous history or diagnosis of high blood pressure, 59% were found to have pre-hypertension, stage 1 hypertension, or stage 2 hypertension. Most participants in Baltimore continue to have their blood pressure monitored at the shops at which they were initially screened.