More than skin deep: Embracing the role of estheticians for health promotion and community collaboration.

Abstract

Introduction: Pubic hair removal (PHR) is a common practice, and many seek PHR from a skincare professional, or esthetician. Estheticians occupy a unique role in which they often have deep, trusting relationships and well-established rapport with their clientele, whereby they could serve as trusted providers of skin and beauty expertise, but also health promotion partners/facilitators. The purpose of this study is to explore the frequency of esthetician involvement regarding 7 potentially concerning health-related symptoms on their clients' skin and examine estheticians' comfort engaging in discussions about health, knowledge regarding these health issues, and interest in being more formally involved in their clients' health.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered between March-August 2023. Potential participants were identified using purposive sampling of Yelp listings (of hair removal/waxing salons), supplemented by snowball sampling, in 11 pre-selected U.S. metropolitan areas. N=359 estheticians who provide PHR services completed an online Qualtrics survey (97.5% women; 36.2% White, 24.0% Black, 20.1% Hispanic).

Results: The most noticed, discussed, and referred issue among the sample was general skin health (90.3% noticed, 82.2% discussed/referred), followed by sexually transmitted infections (STIs; 39.2% noticed, 36% discussed, and 26% referred). More respondents acknowledged discussing (26.6%) compared with noticing (19.8%) skin cancer. Most of the sample indicated high acceptability regarding improving the health of their clientele, and 72.7% expressed support for partnering with health professionals in such efforts.

Conclusions: This is a prime opportunity to aid in the facilitation of estheticians directly improving health and well-being beyond the skin of their clients.