Skin Cancer Education in the Rural Salon

Due to an increase in the incidence of skin cancer and a shortage of primary care and specialty physicians in rural areas, creative public health strategies must be employed to address disparities in skin cancer education, prevention, and detection.

Hair salons in eastern South Dakota communities with populations less than 15,000 were visited in-person by medical student facilitators. Hair professionals at these locations completed pre-survey assessments for baseline self-assessed comfort with detecting suspicious skin lesions and with educating patrons on skin cancer prevention strategies. Their likelihood to both alert patrons of suspicious skin lesions and encourage them to have their lesion evaluated by a physician was also assessed. A 20-minute educational PowerPoint presentation was given. Final assessment was evaluated with a post-presentation survey.

Self-assessed hair professional comfort with identifying suspicious skin lesions was higher in post-survey results, in addition, the educational presentation increased comfort with sharing skin cancer prevention information with patrons. Hair professionals also reported increased likelihood that they would alert patrons to suspect skin lesions. Also, hair professionals reported increased likelihood that they would encourage patrons to seek medical care for their concerning lesions.

Hair professionals may act as lay skin cancer educators in rural salons. Educational programs for hair professionals can increase their comfort with detecting lesions suspicious for skin cancer, increase their comfort with sharing skin protection information with patrons, and increase their likelihood of both alerting their patrons about suspicious skin lesions and encouraging their patrons to have their suspicious lesions evaluated.