SVS Foundation grant fuels barbershop-based PAD screening in Philadelphia 

A single Philadelphia zip code once carried one of the highest rates of non-traumatic limb amputation in the country. Three years into a screening program built around an unlikely setting — the neighborhood barbershop — that number has fallen sharply and the nurse practitioner behind the work says the results prove that “meeting patients where they are” can change outcomes. 

In recognition of National Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month and Vascular Nurses Week (Sept. 6-12), the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and the SVS Foundation are spotlighting Neva White, DNP, executive director of the Frazier Family Coalition for Stroke Education and Prevention in Philadelphia and her Vascular Care for the Underserved (VC4U) grant-winning project. White received the grant last year, funded by the success of the 2025 September Step Challenge. 

The project, known as the Frazier Family Coalition Barbershop Initiative, was launched two years before it received VC4U funding. It grew out of conversations with the coalition’s vascular surgeon partners, who flagged that the stroke center’s home zip code, 19132, had the highest rate of non-traumatic limb amputations in the state. 

“We started doing ankle brachial index [ABI] screening here at the center,” said White. “One of our staff members suggested we take it out into the community. He made some connections and partnerships with local barbershops and it has really been an amazing journey.” 

Since then, teams have offered free ABI testing in barbershops and beauty salons to screen for PAD, with striking results. Non-traumatic limb amputations in the zip code climbed from 27 in 2023 to 32 in 2024, then dropped to 18 in 2025 — a decline of nearly 44% in a single year. Neighboring zip codes have improved too, though less sharply. White stops short of claiming direct causation but believes the screening and awareness efforts are contributing to the trend. 

The initiative has also become a training ground for future clinicians. Medical students from three area schools and nursing students from two others now join the barbershop visits, learning to perform ABI testing alongside podiatrists, nurse practitioners and community health workers. 

“The nursing and medical students are working together in a capacity where they're actually learning culturally competent care when they go into the barbershops,” said White. “They're hearing firsthand from community members their issues, concerns and struggles, where they have certain needs and certain barriers to care. We're hoping this is something they carry into their future practices.” 

The work has also revealed gaps in public understanding of vascular risk — particularly around the links between PAD and diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking — and has surfaced questions about provider trust that shape whether patients act on the health information they receive. 

White's project now carries a personal call to action tied to this year's virtual Walk for Your Vascular Health, taking place the weekend of Sept. 26-27.  

“Thank you to the SVS Foundation for this opportunity and funding,” said White. “The community really needs it and we're excited about expanding our work.” 

For years, the Vascular Health Step Challenge brought the vascular community together to move for vascular health, raising awareness of PAD while inspiring thousands of miles of activity. This year, the SVS Foundation is evolving the Step Challenge into Walk for Your Vascular Health — a simpler, more inclusive experience designed to bring more patients, families, practices and communities into the movement.