Educating minorities about cardiac disease
Program focuses on African-Americans, hypertension
More than 800 people have been screened and more than 100 are being treated for previously undiagnosed hypertension thanks to a program sponsored by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield conducted in barber shops and beauty salons in Baltimore's African-American community.
The project, which kicked off in January 2006, is part of the Owings Mill, MD-based health plan's commitment to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care, according to Jon Shematek, MD, vice president, quality and medical policy for CareFirst BlueCross and BlueShield.
The program has been so successful that the insurer has plans to replicate it in the District of Columbia.
"We are concerned about the disparities in health care for minorities. Generally, minority patients do not receive the same quality or quantity of health care as non-minorities do. Part of the problem is that health plans don't typically tailor their disease management programs to minority populations. We serve a diverse population and want to ensure that all our members receive the same level of care," Shematek says.
The purpose of the project called Hair, Heart, and Health, is to screen African-Americans for hypertension, to raise community awareness of high blood pressure and the fact that it is a preventable condition, and to educate them on ways to prevent heart disease, Shematek says.
"Hypertension in African-Americans is a killer and it is a silent killer. A lot of times, the first symptoms a person experiences might be a stroke. There can be some very bad outcomes if high blood pressure isn't diagnosed. Many people in the community are not aware that you don't have symptoms when you have high blood pressure," he says.
The health plan developed the program with the help of Elijah Saunders, MD, a researcher and clinician at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who specializes in heart disease among African-Americans, Shematek says.
When the CareFirst looked for ways to reach its African-American population, Saunders suggested launching the program in barber shops and beauty shops.
"Within the African-American community, barber shops and beauty shops are a place where a tremendous amount of socialization takes place. People may go every week or two for a trim and sit around afterwards and chat with their friends," Shematek says.
People typically develop a close relationship with their barbers or beauticians and feel comfortable discussing personal issues, such as health care, with them, Shematek points out.
"People in the community know and trust their barbers and beauticians. People do speak with their barbers and beauticians about fairly significant matters in their lives," he says
The health plan is collaborating with the Church/Community Health Awareness Monitoring Program (CHAMP), a community-based health care organization, to implement the project.
So far, 11 barber shops and beauty shops in Baltimore are participating in the program.
Barbers and beauticians in the participating establishments have undergone a 12-week training program during which they learned how to take blood pressure and how to provide health information about cardiovascular disease to their customers.
CareFirst funded the training, which was provided by registered nurses who work with the CHAMP organization. The CHAMP nurses make regular visits to the barber shops and beauty shops to monitor the program.
CareFirst has provided each participating shop with a DVD player and DVDs with programming on heart disease and hypertension. The health plan also supplies the establishments with educational materials about healthy lifestyles, including information on blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight, and the need for physical activities.
The barber shops and beauty shops have signs indicating that the staff are certified to do the screenings, he adds.
The screening and educational program is open to anyone in the community and is not limited to CareFirst members, Shematek says.
"Our goal is to increase the health of the community at large. We don't collect any information about membership," he says.
Some of the people screened have insurance and a primary care provider, Shematek says.
If they don't have a physician, CHAMP and CareFirst have provided information about community physicians to the barbers and beauticians.
CareFirst BlueCross and BlueShield has partnered with community organizations to reach two other minority population. The company has partnered with a Vietnamese advocacy and health awareness group in Northern Virginia to promote cervical cancer screenings among Asian women.
The company collaborated with La Clinica Pueblo on a pilot project to find effective ways to improve diabetes care in a Latino population.
In both cases, the company funded health information materials and training for community-based educators to promote healthy behaviors among the minority populations they serve.
More than 800 people have been screened and more than 100 are being treated for previously undiagnosed hypertension thanks to a program sponsored by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield conducted in barber shops and beauty salons in Baltimore's African-American community.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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