The role of the community pharmacist is to meet the patient where they are in their health journey, and to provide guidance and support along the way. Most of the time, it’s offered from behind the pharmacy counter, but more and more, Walgreens pharmacists are getting out into the communities they serve to meet their patients where they are physically, in person.
That’s exactly what 36-year Walgreens pharmacist Jerome Jackson did in collaboration with one of our payer partners Buckeye Health and the health department in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the past few months, Jackson participated in a Heart Health event series held at local barbershops in the Cincinnati area.
“Instead of waiting for the community come to us, we’re going out and taking a more proactive approach,” Jackson says. “We’ll see a need for more education in certain areas, and that’s where we can help.”
Focusing on Black men and preventive health, this series of barbershop events provided on-site healthcare professionals for blood pressure checks and health discussions, care managers to help navigate insurance benefits in addition to giveaways and raffles. The decision to hold these events in barbershops is significant, as barbershops have been considered a haven for Black men, where they can be themselves, connect with one another and discuss sensitive topics.
The first event in the series was held at a barbershop in the Cincinnati neighborhood where Jackson grew up, which made his participation in the event meaningful personally and professionally. At that event, he gave a presentation about the medications available to treat high blood pressure, and the steps you can take to get treatment. Afterward, he said almost everybody had questions for him, either about hypertension or other men’s health concerns.
“We’ve found that men sometimes don’t ask the questions that they want to ask about their health,” Jackson says, explaining that when they don’t ask the questions, they don’t get the treatment they need. “So we’re trying to overcome those barriers by bringing pharmacists into places where they are, where they have that comfortability.”
Jackson says now that he’s met and talked with these men in person, he hopes they’ll feel more comfortable asking him health questions when they see him behind the pharmacy counter at Walgreens.
“Community pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals,” he says. “I told them, if you come into any Walgreens, there’s a consultation window where you can meet with a pharmacist privately to ask any sensitive questions you need answered.”
Jackson, who has spent his entire pharmacy career at Walgreens, has a history of giving back throughout his life. He says his parents raised him to help others, so he was involved in community service as a young man through school and church long before he considered a career as a pharmacist.
In addition to the barbershop Heart Health series, Jackson has supported the Cincinnati area in many other ways. From flu and COVID-19 vaccine drives at local churches to children’s health education workshops for parents at local schools, Jackson keeps showing up, demonstrating to his community again and again that their Walgreens pharmacist is a healthcare resource they can count on.
“I really enjoy doing it. And this is not just talk, it's really coming from the heart,” Jackson says. “Doing these types of events, which I feel are vital and important to the community, has been an honor for me.”
