Cuts & Checks is Making a Difference!

Since we opened nine years ago, we’ve been relentless in our fight against uncontrolled high blood pressure, as this is proven to be one of the best ways to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

We recently launched Cuts and Checks, our barbershop high blood pressure program, under the leadership of our Community Health Worker, Sharetta Butcher.

This program is aimed at increasing awareness of high blood pressure and reducing the rate of heart disease and strokes among African American men in our community. In April three neighborhood barbershops took the Cuts and Checks pledge to be a “heart attack- and stroke-free zone”: Champions Barbershop, Geneva’s Shear Perfection and Terrell Brandon’s Barber Shop. With financial support from Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, we supplied each shop with a professional BP machine and offered training for the barbers in its use. Sharetta and two trained patient ambassadors visit the shops regularly, providing health information and offering additional blood pressure checks to customers. Since April almost 300 barbershop customers have had their BP checked, many finding out they needed follow-up for elevated readings. The program is growing – we’ll be adding a fourth shop soon and will be training more barbers and patient ambassadors.