Skin Cancer Prevention in Recreational Camp Settings

							       Skin Cancer Prevention in Recreational Camp Settings
                                                                  Kevin Laven, North Carolina State University

   INTRODUCTION
Over 1.3 million people are diagnosed with
skin cancer every year in the United States.
Traditionally youth skin cancer prevention
efforts have focused on the primary
education setting. Through a combination
of policy change, education, and                                                                                                              RESULTS (cont’d)
environmental change, the Parks and                                                                                                           Pearson’s chi-square test reveled a
Recreation Partnership for a Healthier
Wake implemented a sun safety program                                      ABSTRACT                                                           significant improvement between the
                                                                                                                                              campers pre- and post-program surveys in
(SunSense) in the summer day camps of                                                                                                         these measures:
nine participating municipalities in Wake           Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in
                                                                                                                                              1) knowing the sun can be dangerous to
County, NC. This study focused on                   the world. Yet, 78% of diagnosed skin cancers are
                                                                                                                                                  them,
measuring the difference in campers                 preventable. The SunSense program was created
                                                                                                                                              2) that a shirt and hat can be used to
knowledge and self-predicted behaviors in           to educate campers, staff, and administrators on
                                                                                                                                                  protect themselves from the sun
a week-long, day camp setting.                      how to increase their sun safety behavior. This
                                                                                                                                                  (instead of just sunscreen),
                                                    program featured an hour-long recreation-based
                                                                                                                                              3) everybody needs to protect themselves
                                                    activity for campers to learn about sun safety. The
                                                                                                                                                  from the sun (regardless of skin color),
                                                    program also held pre-camp trainings for staff and
                                                                                                                                              4) they should wear SPF 15 or higher sun
                                                    administrators on how (and why) to implement a
                                                                                                                                                  block,
                                                    sun safe behavior program in their camp setting.
                                                                                                                                              5) they will wear hats and long-sleeved
                                                    The purpose of this study was to measure the
                                                                                                                                                  shirts more often,
                                                    effectiveness of this multi-component sun safety
                                                                                                                                              6) they should avoid direct sunlight from
                                                    program on the campers. A total of 1155 campers
                                                                                                                                                  10am to 3pm,
                                                    in 9 different week-long day camps between the
                                                                                                                                              7) suntans do not make people look
                                                    ages of 5-12 years old completed the surveys used
                                                                                                                                                  healthy,
                                                    in this study.
                                                                                                                                              8) suntans are not good for their own skin,
                                                         The findings showed a positive significant
                                                                                                                                              9) they will attempt to play in the shade
                                                    difference in many of the areas tested on
          METHODS                                   knowledge and self-predictive behaviors that relate
                                                                                                                                                  more often this summer, and
                                                                                                                                              10) the sun does good and bad things to
• Each camp administered surveys on                 to sun safety. These data support the notion that
                                                                                                                                                  people (helps plants grow but can hurt
Mondays (pre-program) or on Fridays                 skin cancer prevention programs can be effective in
                                                                                                                                                  them too).
(post-program), determined by a random              the camp setting and is a worthy pursuit for
number assignment.                                  continued cancer prevention efforts outside of the
• Municipalities receiving at least two
SunSense trainings were pooled together
                                                    primary school setting. It is believed that a link
                                                    between skin cancer prevention and recreational
                                                                                                                                                     IMPACT ON
and then randomly assigned to either the
pre- or post- program surveys to determine
                                                    camps will lead to increased funding and
                                                    importance given to camps from the allied health
                                                                                                                                                     YOUR CAMP
                                                    industry.                                                                                 • A sun-safety program can have a positive
intra-department effectiveness.
                                                                                                                                              impact on the skin cancer prevention
• The survey was a modified version of a
                                                                                                                                              knowledge and predictive behavior for your
survey used by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) for its SunWise                                       RESULTS                                                         campers, making your camp a safer place.
                                                                                                                                              • A link created between the skin cancer
                                                            Q5d: What are some ways you can keep your skin safe from the sun?
program in primary schools due to its                      Picture: Child in Shirt and Wide-Brimmed Hat / Text: Wearing a hat and
                                                                                            shirt outside
                                                                                                                                              prevention programs and recreational
established validity measures.
                                                                                                                                              camps can increase funding avenues for
• Only ‘generalist’ recreational camps were                 600
                                                                                                                                              supporting camp activities and general
chosen that had a variety of activities
                                                                                                                                              safety.
(outdoor and indoor activities, outdoor                     500


pools).                                                     400



                                               Number of                                                                       Yes
                                                            300
                                               Responses
                                                                                                                               No
                                                                                                                               I Don't Know
                                                            200                                                                Responses




                                                            100




                                                              0
                                                                      Pre-Program Surveys              Post-Program Surveys

                                                                                       n = 1146 / p < .001




             2007 ACA Camp Research Symposium, Austin, Texas