Barbers trained to test blood pressure in health campaign for Black and Asian men

Some barbers in London will be trained to test the blood pressure of their customers in a project looking to combat undiagnosed high blood pressure.

The project, run by London South Bank University (LSBU), is targeting black and Asian men in London in particular because they are statistically more likely to have undiagnosed high blood pressure. Around 4 million people in the UK have undiagnosed high blood pressure, some 500,000 of whom are in London.

The barbershop health project follows the example of a similar project which took place in Los Angeles between 2016 and 2018, in which 68 per cent of those tested in barbershops were found to have high blood pressure.

Diagnosis of the condition is particularly important now, as a number of studies show increased risks of serious illness and death from Covid for people who have high blood pressure. According to the British Heart Foundation, while the evidence is “mixed”, a study which examined 44,600 patients using data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that hypertension increased the risk of death.

Nicola Thomas, LSBU professor of kidney care and barbershop project lead, said: “For the first time in the UK, barbers will offer testing to their customers to find out if they have high blood pressure and then give advice about how to reduce it.”

LSBU and two community organisations – Off The Record, a youth counselling charity, and Croydon BME, the umbrella organisation for Croydon’s black and minority ethnic voluntary and community sector – is helping to run the project in eight barbers in Mitcham, South Norwood, Thornton Heath and Croydon.

“It’s great to be taking part in this important project to tackle high blood pressure in the community,” said Hugh Benain from Finishing Touches barber. “We’ll be offering our customers on-the-spot blood pressure tests and health information for them to take away. High blood pressure is a silent killer and providing tests and information from our barbershop could save lives.”

Around 30 per cent of men in the UK currently have high blood pressure, around half of whom are not diagnosed or receiving treatment. High blood pressure is the third biggest cause of disease in the UK, leading to kidney disease, vascular dementia and mobility problems and costing the NHS £2bn every year.

The Los Angeles study, run by the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, proved that barbers were a good place for men to talk about blood pressure, and it is hoped that the Croydon project will have similar results. The original study involved 319 African-American men, at 52 barbershops in Los Angeles county.

According to the British Heart Foundation, those from an African and Afro-Caribbean background are at higher risk of high blood pressure, and it is only by being diagnosed with the condition that they can receive the right help and treatment from professionals.

“Sadly, millions of adults in the UK have high blood pressure, and half are undiagnosed, which can lead to strokes or heart attacks,” said Prof Thomas.

“Our Croydon barbershop project aims to understand if we can run a similar project to the one in Los Angeles. It is the trusting relationship that customers have with their barbers that is so important – we need to take healthcare out into the community.”