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MARCUS BRANCH, a private youth counselor, is used to helping people get their minds around their problems. But helping fellow African Americans with their physical health by screening them for high blood pressure has proved just as gratifying.

"I screened a couple of men in their 40s, who were afraid to go to the doctor," says Branch, "but they needed to, and with this early intervention they are getting their health under control."

Branch (pictured at left with Charles E. Bishop) was one of 10 African American men trained by Charles Smith and Bill Baney from PSU's Early Childhood Training Center, to go out into the community and screen five male acquaintances for high blood pressure and other health issues.

Funded by the Multnomah County Health Department, the project is aimed at African American men because that population suffers high rates of hypertension, a potential early warning of such conditions as stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.

So far, Smith says, anecdotal results of the Men's Blood Pressure Project have been positive. Screenings have encouraged some at-risk participants to make lifestyle changes or see a doctor.

Smith thinks one-to-one communication is the key. Because they were talking to people they knew, he says, it opened the door.