At the last IECSC show I met an educator and pioneer in the field of esthetics, Morag Currin. She literally wrote the textbook on Oncology Esthetics. As an esthetician by training, I was very excited to see someone actively broadening the scope of our industry, by welcoming a marginalized group of would-be customers: cancer patients.
Both patients and spas alike have concerns about treatments for guests with health challenges. Both for consumers and for professionals, there's not a lot of information out there about caring for skin while a patient is undergoing cancer treatment or other types of stressful medical therapies (like dialysis, or taking anti-rejection drugs.)
Within the spa industry, the bewildering debate about "wellness vs. pampering" continues. I often quote one of Auberge Resorts' wonderful brand pillars, "Pleasure is healing," to express how spas do both. The arrival of the "health challenged" client is an enormous opportunity--for spas, and for the communities they serve--to present the entire spectrum of our capability.
Personally, I've been moved by precious few "trends" in the industry, but I think oncology esthetics is extremely significant. At our spa, we're excited about the prospect of being able to offer safe, beneficial skin care for cancer patients. In fact, we're so excited that we decided to invite Morag to present her intensive, three day Clinical Oncology Esthetics training at Preston Wynne Spa, October 24-26. We hope that other like-minded esthetics managers and estheticians will be able to join us. The course is open to licensed estheticians and medical skin care professionals.