A potentially life-saving program will kick off today in Washington,
D.C. amid the buzz of electric razors, hum of blow dryers and scent of
shaving cream and hairspray. The University of Maryland’s (UMD) School
of Public Health’s Center for Health Equity, with the Cigna Foundation,
will announce the Health
Advocates In-Reach and Research (HAIR) program at 11 a.m. at Christopher’s
Grooming Lounge, 705 H Street NE, followed by a demonstration of how
the program works. The goal is to use barbershops and hair salons as
gateways to better health for African-Americans, who have the highest
rate of new cases of colorectal cancer and are the most likely to die
from this disease compared to all other racial groups in the U.S.
Washington, D.C. has the highest rate of colorectal cancer deaths in the
country, according to a 2011 report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Media who would like to attend today’s event are invited to call
Brittany Horowitz this morning at 646.229.0213.
“I am very pleased to be a part of the HAIR initiative, partnering with
the University of Maryland's Center for Health Equity,” said Christopher
Bradley, owner-operator of Christopher’s Grooming Lounge. “I am even
more excited that my staff has the opportunity to add such important
value to the lives of our customers. Discussing health issues can always
be a sensitive subject, so it is a great idea to be able to receive
life-saving health information from our technicians. It just makes sense
because the community trusts us.”
Stephen B. Thomas, professor of Health Services Administration in the
UMD School of Public Health and founding director of the school’s
Maryland Center for Health Equity (M-CHE), will introduce the HAIR
program, funded in part by a $200,000 grant from the Cigna
Foundation with added support from the National Institute on
Minority Health and Health Disparities. Through HAIR, barbers and
beauticians are trained in how to educate their clientele about
colorectal cancer and the importance of getting preventive screenings
starting at age 45. The program also includes a team of medical
professionals from Capital Digestive Care, LLC, the largest
gastroenterology group practice in the Mid-Atlantic states, which will
provide medical consultations and colonoscopy screenings to people
reached through the HAIR network.
Over the past decade, Dr. Thomas has conducted public health research on
mobilizing and transforming African-American barbershops and beauty
salons into venues for health promotion, disease prevention and delivery
of clinical care in communities at risk for chronic disease. In
November, Dr. Thomas announced
the first phase of the grant in Prince George County, Maryland.
Funding from the Cigna Foundation allowed M-CHE to expand the program in
Maryland and now Washington.
“While the Affordable Care Act identified colorectal cancer screening
among the preventive services covered at no cost to patients, many
people are not having these screenings. This partnership with the Cigna
Foundation is recognition that business as usual is not working, and now
is the time to invest in new and innovative methods for reaching racial
and ethnic minority populations,” Dr. Thomas said.
Individuals age 50 and older are most at risk for colorectal cancer,
although screening for African-Americans is recommended at age 45. The
American Cancer Society estimates that more than 135,000 people will be
diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. In Washington, D.C., the
death rate due to colorectal cancer is particularly high among the
city’s African-American population.
“Family health history, personal history and race are among the common
risk factors for colorectal cancer,” said Dr. Mary A. Garza, M-CHE
associate director and principal investigator for the project. “A unique
component of the project will be the family health histories that M-CHE
will train counselors to conduct onsite with clients.”
Other health experts who will be in attendance today at Christopher’s
Grooming Lounge to discuss the barbershop program include Dr. Arnold
Levy, president and CEO, Capital Digestive Care; Julia Huggins,
Cigna’s president for the Mid-Atlantic region; Dr. Christina Stasiuk,
Cigna’s national medical director for health disparities, and Dr. Frank
Brown, Cigna's senior medical director for the Virginia-Washington,
D.C.-Baltimore area.
“The Cigna Foundation works to nourish culturally sensitive projects
that are incubators for innovation,” Huggins said. “We’re proud to
support this initiative, which will make a difference in improving
health here in Washington.”
The HAIR
project is funded as a part of the Cigna Foundation’s World of
Difference grants. The Cigna Foundation established the World of
Difference grants to tackle health equity challenges by helping people
overcome barriers to their health and well-being.
About the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity
The University of Maryland’s Center for Health Equity (M-CHE) is a
university-wide research initiative, established in September 2010, and
based in the university’s School of Public Health. It is an NIH
designated Center of Excellence on Race, Ethnicity, and Health
Disparities Research, funded by the National Institute on
Minority Health and Health Disparities. Its mission is to raise the
visibility of racial and ethnic health disparities and implement
promising solutions to advance a better state of health through diverse
partnerships, programs, and campaigns. M-CHE seeks to establish and
sustain a community-engaged research enterprise on critical health
disparities to achieve health equity. For more information on M-CHE
visit http://sph.umd.edu/che.
About the Cigna Foundation
The Cigna Foundation, founded in 1962, is a private foundation funded by
contributions from Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) and its subsidiaries.
The Cigna Foundation is committed to working together with nonprofit
organizations that are creating innovative approaches to improving the
health and security of individuals and communities everywhere. The
Foundation’s primary grant making focus is on health equity, with an
emphasis on sharing the expertise and energies of Cigna's people with
our nonprofit partners.
About Cigna
Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) is a global health service company
dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense
of security. All products and services are provided exclusively by or
through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health and Life
Insurance Company, Life Insurance Company of North America and Cigna
Life Insurance Company of New York. Such products and services include
an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental,
behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other
related products including group life, accident and disability
insurance. Cigna maintains sales capability in 30 countries and
jurisdictions, and has more than 85 million customer relationships
throughout the world. To learn more about Cigna®, including links to
follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com.
About Capital Digestive Care, LLC
Capital Digestive Care is a group of 59 physicians unified across
the Washington Metropolitan Area in their desire to advance the delivery
of care for patients suffering from all types of digestive health
conditions. Capital Digestive Care offers the greatest collective
experience in the area along with the most accessible care. The group's
physicians practice at 16 office locations and are affiliated with 15
hospitals and 8 outpatient endoscopy centers, where more than 30,000
colonoscopies are performed each year. For more information, please
visit www.capitaldigestivecare.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150423005039/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2015