TL;DR If you’re 40 or older, you’re due for a mammogram every two years, and most insurance covers it at no cost. If you don’t have insurance, Louisiana has a…
Author: Denise Tureaud
Health & Wellness Columnist — Black Source Media
Denise Tureaud
Health Writer • Wellness Advocate • New Orleans Community Voice • Wednesday Columnist
Denise Tureaud is Black Source Media’s Wednesday health and wellness columnist, writing for and about the Black women, men, and families of New Orleans with the directness and specificity that community deserves. She does not traffic in generic wellness advice. She writes about the real conditions — financial stress, insurance discrimination, systemic health disparities — that shape Black health outcomes in Louisiana and across America.
Her Wednesday series covers the intersection of personal health and systemic reality. She translates peer-reviewed research into actionable, plain-language guidance for readers who have been underserved by both the healthcare system and the health media that claims to speak for them. Her work on financial stress and cardiovascular disease brought new NIH-backed research directly to Black Source Media readers months before it reached mainstream health publications.
Tureaud writes with the voice of a New Orleans Black woman who has seen too many people she loves suffer from conditions that were preventable — and who believes that information, delivered honestly and directly, is one of the most powerful health interventions available.
Selected Articles by Denise Tureaud
Your Bills Are Breaking Your Heart. Literally.
Black Men Health Disparities: Why We Die Younger and What We Can Do About It (Strong Enough to Live Series)
View All Articles by Denise Tureaud at Black Source Media
Louisiana Medicaid Work Requirements: Protect Your Coverage
TL;DR Louisiana Medicaid work requirements begin January 1, 2027. Some adults ages 19 to 64 on expansion Medicaid will need to show 80 hours a month of work, school, volunteering…
New Orleans Budget Deficit: What It Means for Our Health
TL;DR The New Orleans budget deficit is back at roughly $100 million for 2027. Mayor Helena Moreno’s proposal cuts the city Health Department by nearly a third, puts the low-barrier…
Louisiana Health Disparities Rank Near the Bottom for Black Residents, Report Finds
TL;DR: Louisiana health disparities are baked into nearly every measure of a new national health equity report, and Louisiana’s own data ranks among the worst in the country. Black Louisianans…
New Orleans Cooling Centers Fail During Deadly Heat
New Orleans Cooling Centers Closed During Deadly Heat By Denise Tureaud | Wednesday Wellness TL;DR Eight of the city’s 13 recreation centers, which double as summer cooling stations, were shut…
Why Sleep Matters More For Black Health Than You Think
TL;DR Sleep and Black health are connected in ways our culture rarely talks about out loud. Rest is not a reward you earn after the work is done — it…
When the Doctor Doesn’t Listen: New Film “The Visit” Names What Black Women Have Always Known
TL;DR A new short film called The Visit is putting language to something many Black women already carry in their bodies: the experience of being dismissed, rushed, or disbelieved in…
Comfort Is a Trap: Choose Happiness Instead
TL;DR Comfort and happiness get treated like the same thing. They are not. Comfort means staying where it feels safe. Happiness usually asks you to leave safety behind, at least…
Essence Fest Is More Than a Party. It’s a Permission Slip
TL;DR Essence Festival 2026 just wrapped in New Orleans — and if you were there, you already know what happened. Something shifted in that building. Something that goes deeper than…
So Many of Us Wake Up Tired, and That Exhaustion Could Be Dangerous
TL;DR Feeling tired after a full night of sleep is not just stress and it is not just age. For many of us, it is a medical condition called sleep…