CHHS and Novant Health Provide Screenings at Local Barbershops

For the past six years, Novant Health has teamed up with local barbershops to offer visitors crucial health information. Novant staff sets up popup clinics within barbershops that provide visitors with blood pressure checks, physician referrals, vaccines, and other health information. As of 2023, Novant now works with four different barbershops in the Cape Fear area.

Kevin Briggs, senior director of laboratory & respiratory care services, health equity, inclusion & belonging at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center was the brainchild of this collaboration. “We were looking at ways to reach parts of our population where we haven’t been as present,” Briggs explains. “We also know that historically, men don't really care to enter the walls of the healthcare facilities as often and that blacks and other minority groups have historically had trust concerns with the healthcare systems. So, we wanted to meet people where they were, and that really involved going out to the barbershops in an unconventional way to help.”

Briggs describes the importance of barbershops within the community, stressing that “the barber is really like a source of truth, almost like a pastor in parts of our community. We also wanted to focus our efforts in the areas of the community that had less healthcare access. So, we began doing screenings in the barbershops and checking things like blood pressure, while helping connect individuals to other resources in the healthcare realm that they may or may not be aware of.”

In 2022, School of Nursing faculty Drs. Stephanie Turrise and Lisa Anne Bove received $50,000 from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation for a research project titled, "Promoting Health in African-American Populations through Partnership with Barbershop and Wearable Activity Trackers." The project aimed to help reduce hypertension in the African/Black American and Hispanic/Latino American population by tracking participants’ health information via an activity tracker. After a colleague informed Dr. Turrise of the collaboration between Novant and local barbershops, she became very interested in reaching out. “It wasn’t until I discovered that Kevin Briggs was in charge that I realized it was fate, Dr. Turrise says. “Kevin and I met years ago when I was doing clinicals with nursing students and he offered to give our students a tour of the lab facilities which we had to take him up on! We have been friends and colleagues ever since.”

Cedron Emerson owns and operates Just Cut It, a barbershop located in downtown Wilmington and he has observed first-hand how successful this project has become. “I think it is so great to be able to offer these services to the barbershop, to the barbers, to the customers. It gave them an option. A lot of my clients, they don't have insurance. So, it really brought them awareness and some answers to questions they might have,” he says.

Last year, funds from a New Hanover Community Endowment grant went towards purchasing blood pressure cuffs for people who have a high blood pressure reading or a prior diagnosis of hypertension. “Part of the battle in controlling hypertension is knowing you have it, knowing your numbers, and then working with the healthcare team to get it under control,” Turrise says. “However, people need the knowledge and equipment to manage their health. Raising awareness of the needs in our communities, going to the communities where they live, work and play is key to making a difference. We could not do it without our partners, the barbershop owners, barbers and stylists working in the shops who really are the leaders, who embraced this idea and welcomed us in.”

Dr. Turrise says the program has been very well received by the shop owners, their patrons, and the community at large. Partnerships have been formed with Novant Heart and Vascular Institute, the YWCA Lower Cape Fear, New Hanover County Health and Human Services, and other organizations that have a mission to improve cardiovascular health, particularly in high-risk populations and those who may be underserved. Churches and community organizations focused on mental health are interested in participating with similar operations at their locations. “Ultimately we would like to expand the initiative to other counties that Novant and UNCW serve,” Turrise says.