Table 1.
Massage Therapists Skin Health Awareness, Referral, and Education electronic training modules and competencies.
| Helping conversation step and module name | Competencies | Content examples |
| Awareness (asking about/awareness of skin cancer risk/risk behaviors and opportunities to help) | Describe benefit of MTs as partners in skin cancer risk reduction; begin a helping conversation in a nonconfrontational and supportive way | Multimedia Appendix 1: Opportunity to help |
| Understanding (assessing readiness to change behaviors to reduce skin cancer risk and/or seek medical evaluation of a suspicious skin lesion and seeking understanding of the client’s motivations for/against behavior change) | Apply active listening skills: open-ended questions, clarifying questions, reflective questions/statements; use positive communication skills: express empathy, avoid problem solving, avoid lecturing, avoid arguing; assess and acknowledge major barriers to skin cancer risk reduction; elicit motivators that inspire risk-reducing behaviors; reinforce motivators that inspire risk-reducing behaviors; assess and acknowledge manageable risks for skin cancer; assess and acknowledge the client's willingness to take action; assess suspicious skin lesions; set realistic goals for the outcome of helping conversations | Multimedia Appendix 2: Understanding module screenshots |
| Helping (offering information about skin cancer risk reduction and referrals for medical evaluation) | Recognize how to offer support and encouragement based on the client’s risk profile and willingness to take action; identify different types of referral resources for professional help with skin health; provide information about professional skin health services; explain how the skills learned in this training can be applied in different situations | Multimedia Appendix 3: Returning client with suspicious lesion |
| Relating (arranging client follow-up on skin cancer risk reduction behaviors and referrals and offering ongoing encouragement for behavior change) | Seek permission to follow-up in a respectful manner; facilitate probability of follow-up by finishing the helping conversation on a positive note | Multimedia Appendix 4: Relating |