WASHINGTON 鈥� When customers visit Christopher鈥檚 Grooming Lounge on H Street in Northeast D.C., they鈥檒l get more than a haircut and a close shave. They鈥檒l also get some potentially life-saving advice.
鈥淲e talk about everything here. We go from politics to sports to personal lives, down to relationships. We know all of your secrets, for the most part,鈥� says Christopher Bradley, owner and operator of Christopher鈥檚 Grooming Lounge.
So when Bradley received a call from Stephen Thomas, a professor at University of Maryland鈥檚 School of Public Health, asking if he would be interested in discussing information with his regular clients that could save their lives, he says it was 鈥渁 no-brainer.鈥�
On April 23, Christopher鈥檚 Grooming Lounge became the latest of 11 area barber shops to join Thomas鈥� Health Advocates In-Reach (HAIR) program. The program works with barber-shop owners and their employees to deliver preventive health messages to the members of their communities.
鈥淣o self-respecting black barber would ever say, 鈥業鈥檒l get you in and out in 15 minutes,鈥欌�� says Thomas, who鈥檚 been building the HAIR program for the past decade.
鈥淚t鈥檚 recognition of the deep roots that black barber shops have in their community. They are trusted opinion leaders, and if they work 鈥� to re-enforce the evidence-based message, they鈥檙e a powerful tool on our behalf, improving health.鈥�
Although he鈥檚 worked with community leaders on a variety of topics, Thomas鈥� current initiative focuses on preventing colon cancer in black communities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, D.C. has the highest rate of colorectal cancer deaths in the U.S.
Black Americans are 45 percent more likely than other racial groups to die from colon cancer, and because of this, it鈥檚 recommended that they begin screening at the age of 45, which is five years earlier than other racial groups. But 33 percent of black Americans are not getting tested as needed.
鈥淚n order to reach African Americans, we鈥檝e got to do things differently, because they are still dying before their time from a disease that is totally preventable,鈥� Thomas says.
鈥淭hat word begins in the barber shop.鈥�
Fred Spry, owner and operator of The Shop in Hyattsville, Maryland, has been working as a health advocate with Thomas for two years now. He says he鈥檚 talked to his clients about a number of health issues, from flu shots to heart disease, and has never felt awkward about broaching the topics.
鈥淲e always have these types of conversations with clients after sports and after the daily news — that鈥檚 one of the things we just automatically talk about is, 鈥楬ow are you doing?鈥欌�� he says.
So far, Spry has encouraged 29 of his customers to get colonoscopies.
The shop owners who participate in HAIR are given a stipend for the time they spend training, in addition to a stipend for their shop, which is funded in part with a recent grant from the Cigna Foundation.
Thomas says the program has even helped fund renovations at the barber shops that don鈥檛 have a private space to discuss personal health issues with clients.
Participating barbers are trained using scientifically sound and culturally tailored materials. Thomas says they are even coached on the best times to introduce the health messages to the clients in their chairs.
Past public health programs that use community members as health advocates have utilized church leaders and teachers, but Thomas says in black communities, barber shops have the greatest reach.
鈥淲hile everybody may not go to church, everybody gets their hair done,鈥� he says.
Barber shop owner Bradley agrees. 鈥淭his is where everyone comes. At some point, you have to come in, you have to see us. You have no choice,鈥� he says.
Bradley says community members trust their barbers because the shops have always been a gathering place for community members of all ages, making it the perfect place to extend a life-saving message.
鈥淲e raise generations,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always raised generations in the barber shop. The son comes here; he may tell his father and bring his son. The impact, it just spreads.鈥�
