A pair of South London barbershops are offering customers free blood pressure tests along with their regular trim in a bid to tackle undiagnosed health issues.
The project, run by London South Bank University (LSBU) and Croydon BME Forum has trained barbers who have customers from around South London to provide on-the-spot blood pressure checks. The initiative aims to reach Black and Asian men who have undiagnosed high blood pressure.
Around 30% of men in the UK currently have high blood pressure, around half of these are not diagnosed or receiving treatment. High blood pressure is the third biggest cause of disease in the UK, leading to heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease costing the NHS £2bn every year.
A previous pilot project which took place in barbershops in 2021 saw over 230 individuals receive blood pressure tests. The initiative was inspired by a successful health project in Los Angeles barbershops which led to 68% of those diagnosed with high blood pressure in barbershops leaving the study with healthy blood pressure levels.
The current project, which has been started with new funding, now aims to follow up men who have high blood pressure to see if their blood pressure can be controlled in the longer term. Barbers who are participating in the project are Finishing Touches and Jul’s The Hair Klinik, both located in Mitcham, South London.
LSBU was recently ranked third in the world for reducing inequality in the prestigious Times Higher Impact Rankings 2024, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Hugh Benain, barber at Finishing Touches in Mitcham, said: “As barbers we not only provide our customers with fresh cuts, but provide them a channel to vent or share opinions or life challenges. So I’m very happy for the opportunity to add even more value to the community – especially something as important as blood pressure, which is an underlying cause of so many other poor health conditions. I’m so privileged and so happy to be a part of this project.”
Julian Appiah-Koduah, barber and owner of Jul’s the Hair Klinik in Mitcham, also commented “I think the project is brilliant because we are able to create great awareness and also most importantly save lives.”
Nicola Thomas, LSBU Professor of Kidney Care and barbershop project lead, said: “Following a successful pilot project, we are pleased that barbers will once again offer testing to their customers to find out if they have high blood pressure and then give advice about how to reduce it.
“Millions of adults in the UK have high blood pressure and half are undiagnosed which can lead to strokes or heart attacks. Our previous pilot programme harnessed the trusting relationship that customers have with their barbers but we were not able to see if their blood pressure had been controlled in the longer term. Our partnership with the Croydon BME Forum will enable us to do this follow-up by offering further checks and health advice in their Wellness Centre in central Croydon.”
Shawon Gonzales, project lead at Croydon BME Forum said, “The Croydon BME Forum is wholeheartedly committed to reducing disparities in the Black and minority ethnic population at a community level, and this project is one initiative aimed at achieving that. Besides the high prevalence of high blood pressure in men in the UK, there is a known correlation between physical health and mental health. Therefore, by tackling the prominent issue of high blood pressure, the goal is to simultaneously make an impact on the associated mental health conditions, essentially killing two birds with one stone.”
