Barbershop chats lead to improved cancer screening rates
Hospitals looking to improve the health of the communities they serve might consider new avenues for outreach now that a team of researchers have successfully increased certain screening rates by regularly visiting barbershops.
A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health examined the effectiveness of performing patient navigation services in local barbershops, and found there was an increase in the cancer screening rate studied. Community health workers visited more than 100 barbershops in New York City between 2009 and 2013 to provide patient navigation to more than 700 black men.
The idea was to get to know members of the community well enough that they believed the researchers who were urging them to get screened for colorectal cancer. Dr. Joseph Ravenell, associate professor of population health and medicine at NYU Langone Health who led the research, said any type of community outreach relies on establishing trust.
As such, Ravenell’s researchers spent several years talking with barbershop workers and patrons in New York City, aiming to see if developing such relationships outside clinical settings could help to address some of the social factors that lead to health disparities. “We put a lot of time into developing a relationship with the barbershops,” Ravenell said.
Participants were split into three groups, with the first paired with a patient navigator who educated them on the importance of colorectal cancer screening and helped them address po- tential barriers to getting screened, such as a lack of insurance. A control group was given advice on controlling blood pressure and a third group received both a navigator and the blood pressure control counseling.
The study found 17.5% of men who worked with a navigator and 17.8% of men who got help navigating the system and received counseling got screened for colorectal cancer six months after they enrolled in the trial compared with 8% of men who just received counseling.
Several factors played a role in contributing to the health disparities many of the trial participants faced. Only 60% had a personal physician, while only 40% had received a checkup within the past year. Many were uninsured and lacked knowledge about their health and how to manage it. The median salary of trial participants was $16,726, almost one-third had less than a high school education, and nearly half were unemployed.
But Ravenell said the results of the trial showed the importance of having healthcare providers meet the health needs of patients who may not otherwise be seen within a clinical setting.
Community engagement has become more prevalent at hospitals in recent years as healthcare has focused greater attention on population health management to improve health outcomes and lower healthcare costs through prevention and wellness.
“What keeps people healthy often has to do with what’s going on within their communities,” said Dr. James Plumb, a professor of family medicine and co-director for the Center for Urban Health at Jefferson Health, a nine-hospital system based in Philadelphia.
Community engagement has become more prevalent at hospitals in recent years as healthcare has focused greater attention on population health management to improve health outcomes and lower healthcare costs through prevention and wellness.