UnityPoint Health Des Moines assembles and delivers kits with Black hair products for patients
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A recent initiative at UnityPoint Health hospitals in Des Moines is bringing Black hair care products to patients. Within bags filled with products known for Black hair care is a card with the message “We Care for You” printed on it. The UnityPoint Health Black African American Community Group put the kits together. The kits come with shampoo, conditioner, and cream from popular Black hair company Cantu. A wide tooth comb and hard bristle brush, which are used to help detangle and smooth down hair respectively, are also in the bags. Each bag either comes with a satin bonnet or a wave cap to protect the hair when someone is sleeping. “When they brought it in, I was like, ‘OK, this is the stuff I need,” said Kadedra Washington, a patient at Methodist West Hospital. Washington unexpectedly spent a week at the hospital for a health condition. When KCCI spoke with her, she had been there for several days and used the kit a lot. She refers to everything in the kit, including the body butter, as “the good stuff.””You know, not the typical stuff that they usually give us that will dry our hair out,” Washington said. “This kind of stuff actually helps to moisturize our hair.” Angela Claytor, Meoka Johnson, and Nikkal Johnson are the co-chairs of the UnityPoint Health Black African American Group. “We had a conversation of what it feels like to be a patient and get products that necessarily break of our hair or dry our hair,” Claytor said. The group picked the hair products themselves. All of the UnityPoint hospitals in Des Moines have kits for nurses and staff to give out when a patient is admitted for a stay. “We want them to know that they matter even though they’re not at home during this time,” Claytor said. “They can make sure that they have hair products that are representative of them.” The UnityPoint Health Black African American Community Group is taking this a step further. Nurses are being educated on Black Hair and how to care for it. The hope is to have the kits in UnityPoint hospitals in other regions by August.
A recent initiative at UnityPoint Health hospitals in Des Moines is bringing Black hair care products to patients.
Within bags filled with products known for Black hair care is a card with the message “We Care for You” printed on it. The UnityPoint Health Black African American Community Group put the kits together.
The kits come with shampoo, conditioner, and cream from popular Black hair company Cantu. A wide tooth comb and hard bristle brush, which are used to help detangle and smooth down hair respectively, are also in the bags. Each bag either comes with a satin bonnet or a wave cap to protect the hair when someone is sleeping.
“When they brought it in, I was like, ‘OK, this is the stuff I need,” said Kadedra Washington, a patient at Methodist West Hospital.
Washington unexpectedly spent a week at the hospital for a health condition. When KCCI spoke with her, she had been there for several days and used the kit a lot.
She refers to everything in the kit, including the body butter, as “the good stuff.”
“You know, not the typical stuff that they usually give us that will dry our hair out,” Washington said. “This kind of stuff actually helps to moisturize our hair.”
Angela Claytor, Meoka Johnson, and Nikkal Johnson are the co-chairs of the UnityPoint Health Black African American Group.
“We had a conversation of what it feels like to be a patient and get products that necessarily break of our hair or dry our hair,” Claytor said.
The group picked the hair products themselves.
All of the UnityPoint hospitals in Des Moines have kits for nurses and staff to give out when a patient is admitted for a stay.
“We want them to know that they matter even though they’re not at home during this time,” Claytor said. “They can make sure that they have hair products that are representative of them.”
The UnityPoint Health Black African American Community Group is taking this a step further. Nurses are being educated on Black Hair and how to care for it.
The hope is to have the kits in UnityPoint hospitals in other regions by August.
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