Barbershop Management of Hypertension in the African American Population: Pitfalls and Opportunities for Extension to Other Underserved Communities

• Published in: Current cardiology reports Vol. 22; no. 8; p. 64
• Main Authors: Ebinger, Joseph, Blyler, Ciantel A., Brettler, Jeffrey, Rader, Florian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 19.06.2020
• Subjects: Adult; African Americans; Barbering; Blood Pressure; Cardiology; Health Promotion; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension (DS Geller and DL Cohen; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Section Editor; Topical Collection on Hypertension; Hypertension; High blood pressure; Community-based medicine; Health disparities
• ISSN: 1523-3782; 1534-3170
• DOI: 10.1007/s11886-020-01319-9

Purpose of Review This review summarizes the results of recent barbershop-based studies focusing on the diagnosis and management of hypertension (HTN) in black adults. The pitfalls of prior attempts and opportunities for the development of future programs to address health disparities on a larger scale are also reviewed. Recent Findings While barbershop health outreach has become a commonplace in recent years, the quality of the evidence on the effectiveness of such programs has been weak, until the Los Angeles Barbershop Blood Pressure Study (LABBPS), a rigorously carried out cluster-randomized trial, demonstrated a − 21 mmHg greater reduction in BP among black hypertensive men who were assigned to a pharmacist-led HTN intervention when compared with usual care. Summary Given the available evidence, barber health promotion paired with focused hypertension-specialty care has the potential to reduce, if not eliminate, the present wide gap in hypertension care and ultimately lead to a reduction of hypertension-related complications among blacks. Future research should seek to improve the scalability and transferability of the LABBPS model both to other geographic regions and to other at-risk groups.