10.5826/dpc.1303a138
text/xml
2160-9381
2843
en
Miriam Pomeranz
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual
Supporting Healing Inside and Out: Dermatologist-Led Skin and Hair Care Empowerment for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence 
Text.Serial.Journal
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc
Commentary
2023-07-31
2022-10-03
2023-07-31
2023-08-24
e2023138
Dermatol Pract Concept
Miriam Pomeranz
2023/07/31
10.5826/dpc.1303a138
e2023138
The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
2160-9381
en
e2023138
Raef HS, Bartenstein DW, Golbari NM, Burns Z, Tan JK. Healthy skin from within: A novel intervention for women experiencing homelessness. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022;87(1):223-225. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.055. PMID: 34364933.
Supporting Healing Inside and Out: Dermatologist-Led Skin and Hair Care Empowerment for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence 
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc/article/download/2843/2253
                    Supporting Healing Inside and Out:
                   Dermatologist-Led Skin and Hair Care
                       Empowerment for Survivors
                        of Gender-Based Violence
  Rachel Sally1, Nikita Lakdawala1, Nayoung Lee1, Kristen Lo Sicco1, Miriam K. Pomeranz1


1 The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA



Citation: Sally R, Lakdawala N, Lee N, Lo Sicco K, Pomeranz MK. Supporting Healing Inside and Out: Dermatologist-Led Skin and Hair
Care Empowerment for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023138.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1303a138
Accepted: January 4, 2023; Published: July 2023
Copyright: ©2023 Sally et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial License (BY-NC-4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: None.
Authorship: All authors have contributed significantly to this publication.
Corresponding author: Rachel Sally, The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology New York University Grossman School
of Medicine 240 East 38th Street, 12th Floor New York, NY 10016 Email: Rachel.Sally@nyulangone.org



The global burden of gender-based violence (GBV) is a sig-               hopes of promoting female dermatologic knowledge in a vul-
nificant public health concern, with one in three women es-              nerable population, thus boosting their self-esteem and aid-
timated to experience some form of GBV throughout their                  ing in their recovery. There exists precedent for this type of
lifetime regardless of racial, socio-economic, or religious              dermatological education effort, including a program at the
background [1]. It has been well-established that experienc-             Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) [3].
ing GBV can have devastating consequences on mental and                  Our partner in this initiative was Womankind, which is a
physical health as well as overall quality of life [2]. Com-             New York City-based community organization and shelter
pounded with this, many women with a history of trauma                   serving survivors of gender-based violence with a focus on
experience homelessness as they navigate escape and recov-               communities of color.
ery and encounter numerous barriers to accessing medical                      The SEEDs meeting was held in a private, safe, nonclin-
attention crucial for dermatologic health [2]. Furthermore,              ical setting and hosted by people who identify as women to
low self-esteem and persistent stress may decrease adoption              bolster feelings of emotional and physical safety. ­Twenty-four
of self-care routines [3]. One core theme that emerges when              women from Womankind community attended. Fundraising
studying healing from GBV is improvement of self-image and               efforts allowed participants to take free private car trans-
empowerment of health and self-care [2]. There is a pressing             portation to further enhance feelings of security. Educational
need for interventions that support such healing for survi-              topics focused on photoprotection in skin of color, vulvar
vors across all fields of medicine, including dermatology.               dermatology, skin changes in pregnancy, acne, and alopecia
    Our group developed the Skincare Empowerment and                     and were presented by board-certified dermatologists. Over
Education with Dermatologists (SEEDs) initiative in the                  an hour was set aside for question-and-answer sessions.




Commentary | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023138                                                                              1
Product donations organized during the month prior allowed      communities and working with underserved populations, in
all participants to take home high-quality skin care kits.      particular, women of color and survivors of GBV.
    The aim of SEEDs was to promote wellness and self-care
through skin and hair care understanding, and feedback
                                                                References
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community through recurring educational events. Further,           homelessness. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022;87(1):223-225. DOI:
we hope to encourage other dermatologists to pursue cre-           10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.055. PMID: 34364933.

ative and culturally competent ways of connecting with their




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