Nail Wise
Project Description
This Master’s Research Project (MRP) aims to develop an accessible visual tool for nail technicians to educate themselves on workplace risks and be empowered to participate in healthy workplace practices. Nail technicians face numerous workplace health risks, including skin and respiratory disease caused by chemical exposure and musculoskeletal injuries caused by poor ergonomic conditions. In Canada, many technicians in discount nail salons are immigrants from China, Vietnam, and Korea, these workplace stressors are frequently exacerbated by anti- Asian racism, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (1). It is critical that nail technicians understand workplace hazards and strategies to mitigate them, but providing health and safety information to this demographic comes with inherent challenges (3,5). These challenges include language and literacy/health literacy barriers, access to technology, and even workplace dynamics, as salon owners often work side-by-side with their employees (4,8). Working with a researcher at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) at the University of Toronto, I created an accessible visual resource to address workplace health and safety for discount nail salon technicians. It will be available in multiple languages; it combines image, text, and narrative in short comics and scrollytelling-style animations to alleviate literacy barriers and boost engagement; and it will be formatted for mobile devices, as the most accessible technology for the target audience (2,7). To ensure that the narratives are engaging, appropriate, and relevant, we conducted a formative evaluation, meeting with members of the target audience for both formal and informal feedback and discussion during development of the tool.
Date 2024
Advisors Dr Shelley Wall, Dr Victoria Arrandale
Audience Nail Technicians
Tools Figma, Procreate, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro
Format Mobile Scrollytelling Website
Goals and Objectives
We aim to engage nail salon workers in prevention and protection when faced with a potential workplace hazard.
1. Create an accessible tool that educates nail technicians on the risks of working in a nail salon while empowering them to advocate for necessary occupational health and safety practices.
2. Determine what medium and level of information will be the most effective for communicating occupational health and safety risks
3. Discover the most appropriate character design, narrative structure, and scientific storytelling that will accurately represent the lived experience of nail technicians, and may be used to engage the target audience.
Design Process and Solution
During the beginning stages, research was conducted through a literature review and media audit, as well as multiple meetings with the team at Dalla Lana School of Public Health to evaluate the current available, the best medium for the project and how to create an engaging tone for the work. Through this research phase, the solution was to create a mobile website for nail technicians to learn more about health and safety in their workplace. I additionally had the honour to meet and get to know nail technicians and later perform a formative evaluation on character design. Through mobile accessibility, workers would be able to learn about safe practices on the job in Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese or English on common hazards: chemical exposure, body pain, disease transmission. Each of these stages had the same format of reviewing why this hazard is important for a nail technician to be aware of, followed by at least 5 preventable actions they could perform in order to promote a healthier lifestyle while at work. The following shows what steps were taken at each stage of the design proess
Formative Evaluation
A formative evaluation was conducted with 12 nail technicians on character design. It was crucial that the nail technicians could see themselves in the characters depicted in the media being created. The nail technicians were asked to circle which characters they felt as though they could relate to, and were encouraged to leave. During the evaluation, instructions were read out loud and then translated for each of the nail technicians. The overall results can be found below.
Visual Solution
Visual Case Study: Chemical Exposure
Language Page Overview
Future Advancements:
Future advancements for nailwise is to ensure that the resources is accessible to nail technicians, is available in desktop view, and get more user feedback for further growth
Predicted Benefits for Biomedical Communications and Public Health:
Biomedical Communication: a framework for medical illustrators to educate and assist in health literacy for immigrant workers
Public Health: Create a safer environment for the nail technicians population
References
1 Bradley, L., Lindström, N. B., & Hashemi, S. S. (2017). Integration and language learning of newly arrived migrants using mobile
2. City of Toronto. (2023, May 9). BodySafe. City of Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-programs- advice/bodysafe/Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2(1).
3. Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2014). Transnational identity and migrant language learners: The promise of digital storytelling. Education Matters: The technology. Journal of interactive media in education, 2017(1).
4 David L. (2014, Aug) Focus Group Results: How training and employment conditions impact on Toronto nail technicians’ ability to protect themselves at work.
5 Ford, A. R. (2020). 13 Nail Salons, Toxics, and Health: Organizing for a Better Work Environment. Health Matters: Evidence, Critical Social Science, and Health Care in Canada, 247.
6 Kalenge, S., Kirkham, T. L., Nguyen, L. V., Holness, D. L., & Arrandale, V. H. (2021). Skin exposure to acrylates in nail salons. Annals of Work Exposures and Health, 65(2), 162-166.
7 McCloud, S., & Manning, A. D. (1998). Understanding comics: The invisible art. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications, 41(1), 66-69.
8 Seo JY, Chao Y-Y, Strauss SM. (2019). Work-Related Symptoms, Safety Concerns, and Health Service Utilisation Among Korean and Chinese Nail Salon Workers in the Greater New York City Area. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 31(3):199-209.
9 Zack, B., Arrandale, V. H., & Holness, D. L. (2017). Workers with hand dermatitis and workplace training experiences: a qualitative perspective. American journal of industrial medicine, 60(1), 69-76.