Feasibility of Utilizing Ethnic Beauty Salons for Cervical Cancer Screening Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using ethnic beauty salons to reach out to Vietnamese and Korean American women for cervical cancer screening education. Participants (N = 62) were conveniently recruited from ethnic beauty salons located in Albuquerque, NM. Two feasibility questionnaires were separately administered to cosmetologists and their customers. Findings support the view that ethnic beauty salons can be used as a gateway to reach out to these populations, and cosmetologists have the potential to operate as community lay health workers to deliver cervical cancer screening education aimed at reducing disparities in cervical cancer and screening to their ethnic customers.

Health Promotion and Health Behaviors of Diverse Ethnic/Racial Women Cosmetologists: A Review

“…Both cosmetologists and customers expressed comfort with cervical cancer education in the beauty salon setting (72.2% and 88.6%, respectively). 20 Aside from cancer, chronic disease prevention was the focus of three studies. Kleindorfer et al 21 used a pre/ postintervention design to educate African American women on stroke risk factors and warning signs in Cincinnati, OH, USA, and Atlanta, GA, USA.…”

“…Studies reviewed also indicate that diverse ethnic/racial cosmetologists had an interest in health 10,11,20 and were comfortable or very comfortable in talking about health topics. 20,25 Two studies reported that cosmetologists improved their knowledge levels, including knowledge about skin cancer 24 and knowledge about stroke risk factors and warning signs. 21 Studies indicated that cosmetologists were interested in learning more about health with one noting that they preferred to use flexible ways to learn on their own time (reading pamphlets and watching videos).…”

“…Both cosmetologists and customers expressed comfort with cervical cancer education in the beauty salon setting (72.2% and 88.6%, respectively). 20…”

“…Ahlers-Schmidt et al 25 found that the majority of cosmetologists ( n = 149) surveyed rated their personal health good (68.9%) followed by fair (19.4%) and excellent (11.7%). Studies reviewed also indicate that diverse ethnic/racial cosmetologists had an interest in health 10,11,20 and were comfortable or very comfortable in talking about health topics. 20,25 Two studies reported that cosmetologists improved their knowledge levels, including knowledge about skin cancer 24 and knowledge about stroke risk factors and warning signs.…”

The role of a cosmetologist in the area of health promotion and health education: A systematic review

“…4,5 The literature review shows that cosmetologists undertake talks with their patients on the topics related to health and illness. 6,7 Moreover beauty salons are indicated by many authors as suitable places for increasing the awareness and educating patients about positive health behaviors [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] (Table 1).…”