It’s Hypertension Awareness Month, and a Petersburg barbershop wants to check on your heart

When Denodra Bennett stepped into Another Level Barbershop and Cosmetology School in Petersburg on Friday morning for a haircut, she didn’t realize she would also be leaving with a shifted perspective on her health and reminder to set up her next doctor’s appointment. 

The experience stemmed from a partnership between the American Heart Association, Aetna Better Health of Virginia and Central Virginia Health Services to raise awareness about hypertension and encourage community members to keep tabs on their blood pressure and heart health. Petersburg, recently dubbed a “Healthy Hearts City,” is making strides to address heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the locality. 

Bennett, a Chesterfield County resident, took advantage of health professionals’ presence at the shop to have her blood pressure checked and was surprised to learn it was slightly elevated. 

It’s never been an issue for her before, she said, but feels like she’s been “slacking” on her diet and fitness lately.  

“I would say ‘don’t assume that your health is where you think it is, you need to actually go and let that professional check you out,’” she said. 

Likewise, Archie Robinson got his levels checked by happenstance when he came in for his haircut Friday. Participants received $5 dollars off their trims at ALBC that day. 

Wesley Nicholas Jr., who owns the shop with his wife Candice, said that he was excited to coordinate with the health professionals for the event. The couple frequently utilizes their shop for community engagement events with their spirituality a key role, so when Central Virginia Health Services outreach coordinator Robin Tyler approached them about hosting the heart health awareness event, they were all in. 

“Miss Robin and her team are always out in the community doing great things. So she explained to me about awareness of high blood pressure and I said ‘I think  that’s something we can work together on,’” Nicholas explained.  “The awareness that we bring into our community and to our customers are so exciting to help to realize that we can save someone’s life, or they can save their own.”

Nearly half of adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure, which puts them at a higher risk for heart attacks or strokes. Research shows high blood pressure is more prevalent in Black communities, in part from systemic racism’s impact on people’s lives. Examples include historic redlining, which  decades ago determined where many Black people could live and how resources like public transportation, road improvements, and access to healthy foods were invested in their neighborhood. 

For anyone with hypertension, their high blood pressure can be hard to detect without blood pressure checks. The condition can be managed through medication or lifestyle changes, depending on patients’ specific needs. 

Offering health care services outside of a doctor’s office is important, Tyler said, because heart issues associated with high blood pressure can be tricky to detect without regular checkups. 

“You take care of your car maintenance every three to four months. You have to take care of your body like that, because if you neglect your medical needs, it’s gonna eventually break down on you, and we don’t want that to happen,” she said. 

By addressing preventable or manageable health issues like high blood pressure, Tyler hopes to avert people from needing to accrue costly emergency room visits down the line. It’s an especially needed service: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control identified parts of Petersburg as having the highest rate of hypertension in Virginia, the Progress-Index reported. 

In her role with the federally qualified health center, Tyler regularly engages Petersburg-area residents to connect them to the Central Virginia Health Services clinics or their own health care providers. 

Likewise, it’s Angela Taylor’s job as senior community impact director with the American Heart Association to coordinate with local organizations on initiatives like the heart health awareness campaigns taking place in area barber shops and beauty salons. 

It’s one facet of helping to break down barriers to accessing health care, she said. Sometimes emotional reservations keep people from making doctor’s visits, and transportation or financial access issues can also be a challenge. Local communal hubs like the Nicholas’ barbershop can be an entry point for people to seek further assistance, be reminded to keep up regular physician visits and gain tips to improve their heart health.

“Our goal with doing these community blood pressure stations is truly to meet people where they are,” Taylor said.

*This article has been updated to reflect that the Central Virginia Health Services helped coordinate the event.