A CareFirst Commitment to Good Health in the Neighborhood

Hair, Heart & Health enlists barbers and hair stylists to help identify customers who may be vulnerable to coronary heart disease. The program started in Baltimore, expanded to the Washington area, and wound up as a featured report on the CBS Evening News.

Trained barbers and hair stylists engage their customers in conversation about the risk of stroke and heart disease. The program’s results are impressive.

• More than 2,600 individuals screened for high blood pressure.
• Approximately 80 percent of those screened for the first time reported at least one cardiovascular risk factor.
• From a single barber shop in 2006, the Hair, Heart & Health network now includes 17 shops in Baltimore and 13 in the Washington area.

Hair, Heart & Health is funded through the CareFirst Commitment, an initiative launched in 2005 that has provided more than $130 million in health programs.

The How and Why of Hair, Heart & Health:

Hair, Heart & Health originally started as a modest community health program with limited resources. CareFirst, in partnership with the University of Maryland, a Church/Community Health Awareness and Monitoring Program (CHAMP), and
MedStar Research Institute, expanded the concept and targeted the African-American community.