DELAWARE: AIDS Message Hits Salons

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

DELAWARE: AIDS Message Hits Salons

Wilmington News Journal (12.16.04) - Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Robin Brown

Do the Right Thing, 4LIFE, an outreach effort organized by AIDS Delaware, uses beauty and barber shops to reach the African-American community with messages of HIV prevention. "It's one of our non-traditional ways of reaching people," said Frank Hawkins, director of education and outreach at AIDS Delaware, the state's oldest and largest AIDS service organization.

Deidre Jackson, like six other participating Wilmington shop owners, hosts educational parties, distributes literature, and offers customers free condoms. "The more I was educated about the disease and how it's affecting the African-American community, and Delaware as a whole, I felt I had to do something," she said.

AIDS Delaware replenishes the shops' condom and brochure supplies, but it relies on salon owners and workers to use the bonds developed with clients to start conversations and influence opinions about prevention. "Our goal is to increase their knowledge and awareness concerning HIV/AIDS [and STDs], to encourage safer behaviors, and to provide HIV counseling and testing," Hawkins said, noting that disproportionate numbers of African Americans are infected by the disease. State health department statistics show more than 2,000 state residents living with HIV/AIDS, with the state's highest concentration in Wilmington's African-American community.

John Rago, communications director for Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker, said the program's creative approach "is exactly what we need when it comes to HIV/AIDS."

A Jan. 29 banquet at the Sheraton Suites Hotel will benefit Do the Right Thing, 4LIFE and honor local businesses and city officials who support the program.
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