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.