Visiting the salon is a luxury or aesthetic necessity for our clients, but with the important training of Eyes on Cancer it can be legitimately life-saving. This great organisation is educating and raising awareness for how hair and beauty professionals can spot signs of skin cancer, writes McKenna Uhde.
In 2004, Dr. Dean and Jeanne Braa Foster founded Eyes On Cancer, a nonprofit designed to train hair and beauty professionals to identify skin cancer in its early stages. The average hairdresser can see up to 120 cases of skin cancer over their career, and Dean and Jeanna are dedicated to helping these instances be discovered and treated early on.
Dean was once diagnosed with Cancer himself. Jeanne, his wife and a hairdresser herself, was the first to encourage Dean to get himself checked and, since then, the two have gone on a journey to educate the hair and beauty industry and encourage salons to get trained.
The program Dean and Jeanne have created is an online subscription for both businesses and schools to access and become a part of the program. Subscribers will receive on-demand, unlimited access to skin cancer training and certification courses. Unlike other cancer identification training, Eyes On Cancer is designed for hair and beauty professionals to use these skills in the salon and recognise the early signs of melanoma on their clients. This is a critical next step for hairdressers as they are often the only people who see their clients’ scalp, neck and ears.
Other courses offered in this program are Jeanne’s weft course that trains beauty professionals to create wefts for clients who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. If the clients themselves would like to become involved, there is a consumer course designed for clients wishing to learn to spot signs of disease on their loved ones. These invaluable courses can be added to your personal curriculum for no additional charge. The company has even branched out globally, with a Spanish course available to professionals in Mexico.
Those interested can also become trained and certified by visiting the Eyes On Cancer website and accessing the certification course, of which is only $10. Once joining the program and becoming certified, hair and beauty professionals are then encouraged to post their certification in their salon or office to let their clients know someone’s watching out for them.
Eyes On Cancer in the U.S. has brought awareness during the month of May, when American citizens are most at risk, but with Australia having he highest rate of melanoma in the world, Eyes On Cancer encourages professionals in the industry to join the program and help make a change all year round.
For more information visit www.eyesoncancer.org
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