Planning for the Strategic Recruitment of Barbershops for Blood Pressure Screening and Referral in the Mississippi Delta Region

Figure. Planning for the strategic recruitment of barbershops for blood pressure screening and referral in the Mississippi Delta region. The maps show heart disease death rates by county and concentrations of adult black men at census block group level and locations of partner and potential partner barbershops. Together these maps help public health professionals identify communities that may be interested in improving hypertension awareness and treatment among black men by participating in the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S. initiative to provide blood pressure screenings at barbershops. Heart disease is defined by the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, categories I11, I13, and I20 through I51 (2). [A text description of this map is also available.] The 18-county Mississippi Delta region covers approximately 11,000 square miles of the northwest part of the state of Mississippi between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. In 2010, its population was 554,754; 49.7% of residents were black, and 46.9% were white (1). Heart disease and stroke are the second and fourth leading causes of death among black men in the region (2). blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke and disproportionately affects black men (4); the prevalence of high blood pressure is higher among black men than among other racial/ethnic groups in the state (5). Efforts to reduce heart disease and stroke prevalence and disparities include prevention, early detection, and awareness of high blood pressure among high-risk and hard-to-reach populations. The Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative (MDHC) is a 5-year cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Mississippi State Department of Health designed to prevent heart disease, stroke, and related chronic diseases in the Mississippi Delta region. MDHC is implementing programs that target high blood pressure and hypertension prevention among at-risk populations in the Mississippi Delta region. One such program is the Barbers Reaching Out to Help Educate on Routine Screenings (B. screen adult black men in the Mississippi Delta region, thereby increasing awareness of high blood pressure, and to refer clients with high blood pressure to a health care provider. Clients who are screened are provided resources on identifying local health care providers and education materials for promoting lifestyle changes and are encouraged to schedule routine checkups with a health care provider to monitor their overall health. in partnership with a local community-based organization (Mississippi Action for Community Education, Inc), barbers were recruited by MDHC through a request-for-proposal process and …