Jun 26 2012
In an effort to improve the health of African American families, the
Beauty N Black Wellness Tour will turn beauty salons into centers for
health information and screening, starting with a June 30th
launch in Los Angeles. Women visiting the salons will have the
opportunity to talk with experts about common health concerns and to get
screened by a health professional for diabetes, high blood pressure and
HIV. The Black BeautyShop Health Foundation (www.blackbeautyshop.org)
will produce the nine-city tour in collaboration with the American
Diabetes Association and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
"Women are the health CEO of the family," said Margo LaDrew, executive
director of the Black BeautyShop Health Foundation. "Given that black
women visit the salon an average of 2.5 times a month, the beauty shop
is an ideal place to educate women and equip them with practical tools
for improving their family's health."
Ms. LaDrew is an expert at the intersection of beauty and health for
African American women. She is a former divisional sales manager with
Carson-Johnson products, which is a leader in hair care brands for black
women. Additionally, Ms. LaDrew spent more than four years with the
Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program. Under that organization's
banner, she assisted the founder in developing, launching and
implementing all programs, coordinated the national tours and also
produced the African American Men's Health & Empowerment Summits. All
told, Ms. LaDrew helped to deliver health screenings to more than 25,000
men in 26 cities before stepping down in June 2011.
Spurred by her success in the arena of black men's health, Ms. LaDrew
founded the Black BeautyShop Health Foundation, whose mission is to turn
Black women's interest in beauty and personal care into opportunities
for raising their awareness of how to prevent and manage disease. In
addition to bringing health information into beauty shops, in 2012 the
Beauty N Black Wellness Tour will sponsor free day-long health and
beauty expos in Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; New York City; Oakland, CA;
Richmond, VA; Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.
Susan Evans, MD, a nationally acclaimed dermatologist and media
personality who serves as Ambassador for the initiative, said, "As a
dermatologist, I know that skin is the window to overall health. I
believe the Beauty N Black Wellness Tour will help Black women make the
connection between external beauty and internal health." Toward that
end, Dr. Evans will make personal appearances at events in Los Angeles
and several cities during the tour.
Source: Black BeautyShop Health Foundation
Vitamin D may lower blood pressure in older people with obesity