Tuesday, December 2, 2008

What Do You Talk About With Your Hairstylist?

My hairdresser says that when she was in school to become a stylist she was taught that clients are more apt to share personal information with the person who cuts, colors and styles their hair, because people respond to the human touch. Because barbers and hairstylists actually touch us, we tend to trust that person and reveal more about ourselves. Asking hairstylists and barbers to share healthcare information didn't start with birth control, however. Other studies have proved that barbers and hairstylists have helped to spread info about diabetes and cardio-vascular disease.

Our researcher Mary Losch at the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Social and Behavioral Research will be keeping data about this project so we can determine if using hairstylists to inform l8-30 year olds about long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) works. Our website provides a comprehensive list of all contraceptives so that people who know little about the new technology will have an overveiw of each method.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is right on. Hairstylists are definitely a personal influencer. I share everything with mine and often here myself saying "what do you think?".

TracyJSmith said...

Kudos! And, don't just do this with female hairstylists. These kind of subjects are freely discussed with my male hairstylist as well.