How prepared are hairdressing salons and GP practices for working in partnership to promote the uptake of cardiovascular disease screening among women living in London’s deprived and ethnically dense communities?

Problem

Hairdressing salons are community assets, offer the opportunity of meeting women in a place of trust within their community; a venue where they frequent, network and participate in thoughtful discussions. Leveraging beauty salons for health promotion has already shown promise among African American women in the United States, with evidence of a positive impact on blood pressure control and for the feasibility of training salon therapists in health promotion. In the UK, ethnicity and deprivation are consistent correlates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, and of low uptake of screening services. We explored the preparedness of embedding beauty salons into the primary health care pathway in London’s deprived neighbourhoods to improve early detection and management of CVD.

Approach

An initial “readiness” phase for a feasibility project, used a sampling frame of salons using GIS, online directories and participatory mapping. An overlapping map of hair salons, GP practices, prevalence of CVD and mortality, Index of Multiple Deprivation in particular areas, and ethnic specific densities was developed. Readiness assessments of eligible GP surgeries (4) and salons (~8) used qualitative and quantitative tools developed for studies on integrated community-primary health care systems, based on WHO guidance. These include questions on governance, capacity, community-primary care collaborations, communication and information technology platforms.

Findings

We will report on interviews with salon staff working in a mixture of salons that target specific ethnic groups (e.g. Black Caribbeans, Black Africans) as well as those that cater for clients from different ethnic/migrant groups (e.g. Irish, South Asians, White British, Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans), and are located in most deprived 4th/5th IMD quintiles areas with high CVD need. We will also report on interviews with practitioners in the neighbouring GP practices, particularly in relation to their perceptions of cultural safety, competing priorities, community referral and follow-up systems and other governance issues that could affect sustainability. The results will inform the key barriers and enablers for salons and GP practices jointly delivering a culturally accessible CVD prevention service model.

Consequences

Establishing partnerships between health and community systems provides the potential for effective, equitable and efficient services. Hairdressing salon settings are a powerful community asset and a partnership with GP practices could facilitate CVD prevention services with equitable reach.