The SunWise Policy intervention for school-based sun protection: a pilot study.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Environmental Health
• Health Education

Background:

• Skin cancer is preventable, yet effective information dissemination for prevention remains a challenge.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) SunWise Program targets children, teachers, and school nurses for sun safety education.
• There is a need to enhance school-based sun protection policies and practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different intervention strategies in increasing the adoption of school-based sun protection policies.
• To assess the impact of a revised toolkit and technical assistance on policy implementation.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving 28 schools randomly assigned to three groups: Control, SunWise Policy, and SunWise Policy plus Technical Assistance.
• Interventions included the original EPA SunWise curriculum, a revised toolkit emphasizing policy, and the policy toolkit with added technical assistance calls.
• The study focused on increasing the adoption of new sun protection policies within schools.

Main Results:

• The SunWise Policy plus Technical Assistance intervention group demonstrated a greater increase in the adoption of new sun protection policies compared to other groups.
• Enhanced interventions, including policy-focused toolkits and technical support, proved more effective in driving policy change.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced interventions, specifically the SunWise Policy plus Technical Assistance, are effective in promoting the adoption of school-based sun protection policies.
• School nurses and health educators can integrate interventions like policy toolkits and counseling into school hours to improve sun protection practices.