Our mission & Vision

shift the praxis, narrative, and culture of men’s health.

 
 

The vice grip of health inequity is a public health crisis that threatens the immediate health and safety of our communities. TRAPMedicine dares to imagine a new and radical approach to addressing the silent epidemic that has resulted in African American men having the shortest life expectancy among any group in the U.S. By leveraging the cultural capital of barbershops to function as wellness hubs, we hope to create a new model for addressing the physical and emotional health of Black men and boys.

Our mission is to shift the praxis, narrative, and culture of men’s health by rebuilding trust in the healthcare system, conducting and promoting research aimed to reduce disparities, and addressing barriers to access. Our theory of change prioritizes Trust, Research, Access, and Prevention (“TRAP”) as key drivers for eliminating health disparities among Black men and boys — a population disproportionately burdened by preventable diseases.

TRAPMedicine’s explicit focus on Trust, Research, Access, and Prevention is informed by the Barbershop Wellness Survey, which we conducted independently in 2016 with one-hundred fifty (150) African American men ages 18-65. We found that 70% of  respondents would access preventive health and mental health services if they were offered at the barbershop. This finding helped inform the design of TRAPMedicine as an “upstream” intervention that could directly address key barriers experienced by equipping barbershops with the tools needed to engage their clients.

TRAPMedicine represents an opportunity to revolutionize the provision of care in communities where racial and economic inequities have caused the burden of disease to become an overwhelming public health crisis. The project’s explicit focus on men of color – particularly those with limited access and engagement with the healthcare system – follows our commitment to promoting racial justice, investing in “underserved” communities, and supporting interventions that center equity.

 
 
Legends Barbershop - East Oakland, CA

Legends Barbershop - East Oakland, CA