About 10 years ago, someone gave Ithmar Robinson a coffee mug that read “Hair Dresser” at the top.
Underneath, a long list of other professions followed. He said the meaning behind that mug was evident.
“We do everything for our clients,” Robinson said.
Robinson, who goes by “Flash,” is the owner of Flash Hair Design Studios on the city’s west side. He’s been doing hair since the 1970s. He said at this point, he can tell a lot about his client’s health issues just by looking at their hair.
“Well, stress makes your hair come out. If you've got problems with your kids or whatnot, sometimes that gray stuff comes in a little quicker,” Robinson said.
Now, he has the chance to help his clients in a measurable way.
In June, he began training to become a health educator with Common Ground Health, an organization that works with several counties in the region to improve health outcomes for underserved populations. As an educator, Robinson will be able to provide information and resources to clients about health disparities in the community.
“We already do this,” he said. “We just didn't have the resources that Common Ground is providing for us now.”
Stephanie Myricks, a hairstylist at the salon, said individuals in her profession are the most logical people for this role, particularly when trying to meet people where they are.
“We’re not in the office, we’re on the streets with the regular people,” Myricks said.
She said getting medical advice from someone you trust, like your stylist, can be effective.
“I can't mandate that you go to the hospital,” Myricks said. “But because I have a certain type of relationship with you, I can tell you ‘OK, baby, you might need to go get that checked.’”
This trusted type of relationship is what Common Ground Health envisioned when it established the Get It Done Initiative in 2003.
The concept was to give barbershops and hair salons the toolkits needed to educate the community on disparities. Then about three years ago, Jackie Dozier, Common Ground’s Community Health & Well-Being Program manager, started planning symposiums to recruit more barbers and stylists and expand their responsibilities.
“Whatever is going on in our communities, whether it's in the barbershop, or whether it's in a beauty salon, we're having those conversations,” Dozier said. “It's the best way to funnel any kind of information that we want our community to know about, and to be educated on.”
Dozier has since recruited roughly 30 barbers and hairstylists to be peer leaders and
health educators. She said the goal is to help the community navigate through the health system and get where they need to be.
“Whether it's housing, needing a primary care doctor, needing medical insurance, they have the resources to give to their clients in order to assist them,” she said.
The program also requires each educator to log the time spent talking about health issues with their clients. The data collected gives Common Ground insight into which neighborhood needs what resources and how to allocate funds.
Devon Bay is quite familiar with that strategy.
“In order to ensure that we have a future, we have to invest in it now,” said Bay, the owner of Brothers & Sisters Unisex Salons.
He’s been working with Common Ground for about a decade. As a trained peer leader, Bay doesn’t just refer his clients to services, he also takes blood pressure readings and sometimes hosts mobile clinics.
He said Common Ground’s overall mission for the program aligns with his beliefs, a system he calls “conscious capitalism.”
“I can't be in a neighborhood and I capitalize without giving back,” Bay said.
He said this form of outreach is a pragmatic solution for underserved communities, but the people also must do their part.
“It’s just now us -- when I say us Black people -- actually being proactive and not reactive when it comes down to our health,” Bay said.
