Project: Healthy Hair Starts With a Healthy Body
Organization: National Kidney Foundation of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Story submitted by Linda Smith-Wheelock, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.

Saving Lives: How one Hair Stylist is Making a Difference in Her Community

“Blood Pressure 220 over 180. You are at stroke level!” Surprise would be an understatement to what Deborah Ivory felt when she heard these numbers. Looking back, Deborah remembers that her mother experienced heart problems as a result of high blood pressure. Deborah never connected that she also might have high blood pressure. For the most part she never experienced any symptoms except an occasional headache.

Deborah owns and operates a hair salon in Detroit serving a large African American clientele. Most of Deborah’s clients have gone to her to get their hair done for many years. They are much more to Deborah then just clients. Deborah is a friend, a confidant, and in hard times, a shoulder to lean on. The walls in Deborah’s salon are bright and colorful. The waiting room is filled with plants and flowers. There is a large window in the front that lets in the sun. There is always coffee, refreshments, and snacks waiting for you. Those who sit in Deborah’s chair share about their families and friends and learn about the latest goings-on in the community, all the while they are getting their hair styled. This often takes three to four hours sometimes longer.

Deborah heard about the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s Healthy Hair Starts with a Healthy Body program from one of her clients. She decided to attend the two-day workshop in which she would learn how to discuss health promotion messages about the importance of exercise and eating right to help her clients, who are also her friends, as they get their hair done.

On “day two” of the workshop Deborah attended, a nurse took the blood pressure of all of the stylists who were participating in the training. “I was shocked when the nurse told me my blood pressure was 220 over 180,” exclaimed Deborah. “The nurse told me to go to the doctor as soon as possible.”

When Deborah saw the doctor the next morning, she was immediately hospitalized to stabilize her blood pressure. Indeed it was a scary experience for her and her family. Deborah began to eat more fruits and vegetables, started walking with her husband after work, and consistently took her medication. She has been able to sustain a normal blood pressure ever since.

Deborah shares her own story with her clients as she delivers the health promotion message each day in her salon. Deborah is one of 500 stylists who have reached 12,000 clients throughout Michigan. The stylists are a motivating force due to the strength of their relationship in their client’s lives. African Americans are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease reinforcing the importance of the stylists work. Who would have thought that the “disparities in healthcare” issue could be addressed so significantly in a hair salon?

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