How did you come to that?
The "Calm Head" project was created in response to an internal survey, which shows that as many as 95% of people with psoriasis try to avoid visiting the hairdresser because of the attitude of employees towards patients. This situation is caused by low awareness of psoriasis among hairdressers or guided by false beliefs. That is why we decided to reach hairdressers with basic information about dermatological diseases. As young people, we want to respond to the social challenge of discrimination based on appearance. We want to counteract the exclusion of people with dermatological diseases by promoting knowledge about skin diseases among school students and hairdressing technicians. We believe that the lack of knowledge and harmful prejudices contribute to the discrimination of patients. Shame caused by negative experiences leads to self-isolation of the patient, while we want people with a different appearance to feel good in their own skin. We want to encourage hairdressers to understand the dilemmas of a sick person, as well as the feeling of stigmatization. We want patients to be able to use hairdressing services without feeling ashamed and uncomfortable. The problem that we define in this project is the beginning of changes in the perception of a person at risk of exclusion and a chance to improve the quality of life of the sick. We believe that the implementation of the project will contribute to reducing the stigma and discrimination of people suffering from skin diseases.

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Who are our participants?
The project is aimed at students of schools and hairdressing technicians in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is them who will build the labor market in the future and it will depend on them how clients with special needs will be treated.

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What will happen there?
Students of schools and hairdressing technicians were trained in the professional provision of services to people with psoriasis and other scalp diseases. The activities included both theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part discusses the basic diseases of the scalp, including psoriasis, selected hairdressing treatments, methods of talking to the client and products recommended and not recommended for people with scalp diseases. Practical activities, on the other hand, included two specialized studies. The first included a trichological examination. Participants of the training could see for themselves what this examination is all about, they successively applied the camera to a selected area of the scalp, where they immediately received several hundred times magnification of the examined place, and then analyzed the results together with the instructor. The aim of this study was to show future hairdressers that it is possible to quickly, accurately and effectively examine structural disorders within the hair shaft, assess the epidermis and hair follicle openings. In the second practical activity, students had the opportunity to learn how to perform darsonvalization treatment, which has a very beneficial effect on psoriasis skin. They successively applied a glass pelotte to the scalp, which, when connected to electricity, was filled with ozone, which was indicated by a specific blue light. Thanks to this treatment, it is possible to thoroughly cleanse the scalp, because ozone has a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect. Both practical activities were very popular among future hairdressers, especially since the vast majority of them saw the equipment presented by us for the first time. At each stage, the teacher paid special attention to the need to perform the above tests in hairdressing salons.

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What have we achieved?
As part of the project, we managed to reach future hairdressers with key information both about scalp diseases and providing services to people with special care needs. We provided the participants with knowledge about effective work with psoriasis, methods of conducting a comprehensive interview with the client and educating the client in terms of choosing the right care for the affected areas. Thanks to the training, the future hairdressers improved their professional competences and increased their self-confidence when working with a client with skin lesions. Now, the participants of the training can easily recognize the most common diseases of the scalp and know which service profile to match the client's dermatological needs.

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Who financed the project?
The project was funded by the European Solidarity Corps.