ShopTalk – Barbers as partners in health promotion: Reviewing social determinants of health, revisiting cardiology pioneers, and moving forward

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) like education, economic stability, social context, neighborhood environment, and healthcare access are increasingly recognized as major drivers of persistent health disparities, particularly among minority populations. Over the past year, studies have demonstrated and quantified the impact that certain SDOH have on uncontrolled blood pressure in Black and Hispanic adults compared to white adults. This underscores the need to view chronic diseases through a SDOH lens and implement multilevel interventions targeting these underlying social factors to achieve health equity.

The ShopTalk initiative, based in Lakeland, Florida, represents a promising community-based approach to addressing SDOH and health disparities. It conducts health outreach in barbershops and hair salons - trusted community hubs where meaningful dialogues occur. Key components include providing health education materials, offering screenings, and facilitating physician connections, all at no cost. By leveraging these culturally-relevant spaces, ShopTalk simultaneously targets multiple SDOH domains like health literacy, economic barriers, neighborhood familiarity, and healthcare engagement.

This builds upon the pioneering work of leaders like Dr. Elijah Saunders and Dr.

Ronald Victor, who previously engaged social hubs to successfully raise hypertension awareness among underserved populations. As highlighted by Healthy People 2030's emphasis on SDOH, widespread implementation of such culturally-tailored community outreach shows potential for finally reducing longstanding disparities. Specific outcome measures are planned to optimize ShopTalk, with the goal of extracting generalizable insights to guide similar initiatives nationwide.