delayed, and black men have significantly higher rates of diabetes complications once diagnosed. Black men are also less likely to live into their 70s than are men in other racial and ethnic groups.
Dr. Anthony Clarke, an internal medicine doctor in Detroit, said, “Not seeking medical care is a common problem in men, and it’s worse in the black community. With a lot of men in general, they think, if you don’t know about a problem, it’s OK. A lot of men tell me, ‘My wife made me come in.'”
Clarke, of Detroit Medical Center’s Harper University Hospital, was not involved in the current study.
“I think the barbershop was a good way to do this. If patients aren’t coming to you, you go where the patients are. The barbershop is a gathering place for men,” Clarke said.
The researchers partnered with eight Brooklyn barbershops, all owned by black people. The neighborhoods were chosen because they had a higher prevalence of poor blood sugar control.
From September 2017 through January 2019, nearly 900 black men were offered the free