We are a student movement enabling solutions for early detection of skin cancer.
We use our creativity to fill health resource gaps in our communities:
while we sit for haircuts, we empower hairstylists to become skin screening heroes.
We pursue win-win solutions that reward hairstylists with bigger tips.
We provide all our materials for you to become a student leader in your community.
Self-examination of the scalp and neck for early cancerous lesions is near-impossible:
we can't see around our head or under our hair!
Hairstylists are best positioned to provide early detection of skin cancer there,
but they don't have time to attend external training programs.
Reward systems to incentivize hairstylists to provide this extra service do not exist.
Many people do not know where to go for a dermatology follow-up.
There are extensive gaps in medical insurance and dermatology service availability.
We turn a wasted resource into a community health tool:
The time during haircuts is normally boredom and awkward silence.
We can use this wasted time to train and empower our hairstylist as skin-screeners.
We fill the training gap by providing hairstylists with simple index cards we explain:
what to look for
how to look for it
how to tell customers
We create colorful pins and mirror stickers informing customers about the service.
Appreciative customers may reward hairstylists with bigger tips.
We supply hairstylists with "this is where you can go" cards to hand out to customers.
The cards include free local skin screening clinics and events.
Skin cancer is the #1 most common form of cancer diagnosis in the US.
One in five people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime.
Over $2 Billion are spent a year on skin cancer treatment.
Every hour, someone dies of melanoma.
Our high elevation and near constant sunshine puts us at higher risk for UV exposure.
41% of adults have had a sunburn in the last year, increasing risk for skin cancer.
The melanoma rate since 1975 has over doubled in the state.
Death rates by county for melanoma are 18-40% above national average.
Researchers interviewed local hairstylists
Almost none of them had received formal training in skin cancer detection
But nearly half the times they brought an unusual lesion to a customers' attention, it had resulted in the diagnosis of a previously undetected cancer
This "nearly half the times" provides astounding evidence that our student mission can save many lives if we solve the gaps with our problem-solving approaches
The authors recommended very simple training for hairstylists to become "powerful advocates for early detection" of skin cancer
