Remember when you could only get flu shots in your doctor’s office? How inconvenient was that? You had to make an appointment to get in — no walk-in service there.
It got so there was no way we could provide everybody with an in-office flu shot, so enter pharmacies. They joined in to offer flu shots to all takers and — bingo! Everybody who wants one now can get one. No excuses.
Our next step in community health is testing more people more often for high blood pressure. This is a big problem in all communities but especially in the African-American community, where hypertension is rampant and under diagnosed. Enter barbershops.
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The Cedars-Sinai California Heart Center in Los Angeles invited 52 barbershops to take the blood pressure of their clients. If the person had hypertension, a pharmacist would then treat them with a medication protocol developed by the health care team. They didn’t need to see a doctor, initially, to get treated — that was the key.
The average blood pressure of the men who came into the barbershops at the start of the study was 150 systolic, which is much too high.
One year later, the average dropped to 120 systolic — right on the mark. Great results!
My spin: It’s time to look at more community outreach programs utilizing all health care providers. Having blood pressure measured in barbershops and connecting people, easily, to a community resource that doesn’t require a doctor visit might seem second-class, but what’s really second-class isn’t providing easy access to medications that can save lives.
Stay well.
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