This blog was updated on 12/11/2024.
No parent wants their child to be admitted to the hospital. However, if they are, families deserve the best expert care available. Unfortunately, that is often not the experience for minority families. Historically, Black patients have experienced disparities across the spectrum of health care, even when it comes to the most basic of patient needs – hair care.
Children’s Minnesota is on a mission to champion the health needs of all children, including those historically underserved. In pursuit of that mission, we are creating sustainable change within our health care system and actively partnering with the communities we serve to foster trust and develop inclusive programming that will help bridge the gap in health outcomes we see every day.
In 2020, Children’s Minnesota made hair equity a priority within its walls when nurses identified a lack of appropriate hair products available for textured hair and implemented solutions to bridge the gap. In 2023, Children’s Minnesota took its efforts to the Minnesota Capitol to advocate on behalf of families across the state. This included championing the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act prohibiting racial discrimination based on natural hair texture and hair styles, such as locs, braids, and twists.
Assessing the issue internally
Prior to 2020, patient families at Children’s Minnesota brought up the issue of caring for kids with a variety of hair textures and curl patterns. Staff did what they could to address the need, however there was no formal training or system to stock the appropriate products.
After hearing this feedback, two Children’s Minnesota nurses, Courtney Kenefick, DNP, APRN, and Heidi Shafland, APRN, CNS, set out to bridge this equity gap. After asking other nurses and nursing schools about their processes and conducting a literature review, they found many nurses and providers were never taught how to provide culturally sensitive hair care.
The team also sought the expertise of Adriene Thornton, manager of health equity, who encouraged them to seek input from patient families and other departments.
“Our hair instills a sense of pride. But unfortunately, most Black women and girls experience some form of discrimination just because of their hair. We knew we had to do better for our patients and their families,” said Adriene.
Identifying products and education
As they began to address the issue, Courtney and Heidi evaluated products based both on being culturally appropriate and on medical considerations. Because Children’s Minnesota is a health care setting, they needed to know products would not cause other skin issues or potential infections. They partnered with several departments to identify the appropriate products, including teams from equity and inclusion, infection prevention, wound care, and supply chain.
Once the products were stocked, they educated staff on how to use them and why it’s important to know how to care for the hair of our diverse patients.
“Understanding the unique needs of all our patients helps health care workers build trust, which ultimately results in better care. There are medical issues related to inappropriate hair management, such as alopecia, broken hair shafts and seborrheic dermatitis. So, we need to care for hair properly,” said Courtney.
The team made the rounds to different units to talk about the newly available products and handed out tip sheets. They also produced a training video for bedside staff that consisted of three components:
- Discussion from a family about their experience with hair and scalp maintenance while their child was in the hospital.
- Hands-on demonstration for hair maintenance.
- Role-play-style introduction for how to discuss hair maintenance while children are in the hospital.
Response
After initially being promoted during unit meetings and on company communications, such as email, the training video was integrated into orientation for new nurses in early 2022. The response from staff and families has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Providing our diverse patient families with culturally appropriate hair care is another step to more equitable health care. The work isn’t over yet, but this proves we can make progress,” said Adriene.
Supporting the CROWN Act
Children’s Minnesota’s commitment to hair equity went even further when the organization brought its advocacy to the Minnesota Capitol. In 2023, when Minnesota legislators introduced the CROWN Act, the organization proudly stood by the legislation that would ban discrimination against natural hair textures and styles.
“Before we decided to support the bill, we saw research saying that over 50 percent of moms with daughters around the 5-year mark, 5 years old, would experience discrimination, from their daughters, about their hairstyle,” said James Burroughs, Children’s Minnesota chief equity and inclusion officer. “This type of discrimination is unacceptable. We knew we needed to step up and do more than address the issue internally. We wanted to advocate for change on behalf of all children and families.”
Children’s Minnesota is a founding member of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE), an impact organization that works with Minnesota businesses to build an equitable, inclusive, and prosperous state with and for Black residents. Children’s Minnesota was one of 50 members in MBCRE to support the CROWN Act at the time. Along with Tiffani Daniels, managing director of MBCRE, Dr. Marc Gorelick, president and CEO of Children’s Minnesota, testified in a hearing in the Minnesota Senate to support the CROWN Act.
The CROWN Act was successfully passed in Minnesota in February 2023, making Minnesota one of the 27 states where the CROWN Act is law.
