RESEARCH >> SUN ON SKIN

The Draw and Write Study
Children under 12 years of age represent a key target group in efforts to control skin cancer as research shows that sun exposure in childhood is important in terms of skin cancer risk in later life. The public health department devotes considerable effort each year to promote the message of sun safety though a variety of media and campaigns, but its effectiveness in the target population cannot be assumed.

INVITATIONS / SCENARIOS TO DRAW AND WRITE Each invitation was performed in the boxes labelled 1 -4 on the worksheet: Invitation 1: Draw a mum or a dad and a little child at the beach on a very hot, very sunny day. What is the mum or dad doing to take care of the little child? Write down what the mum or dad is doing to take care of the little child? Invitation 2: Draw some people outdoors doing things that could harm or hurt their skins. What are they doing? What could happen to their skin? Write down what they are doing and what could happen. Invitation 3: Draw a person who has got very sunburnt. How does your person look? How does your person feel? Write down how your person looks and feels. Invitation 4: This time draw yourself outdoors on a very hot, very sunny day. Are you wearing anything special because it is a very hot and sunny day? Are you doing anything special because it is a very hot and sunny day? Write down what you are wearing and what you are doing.

As part of an endeavour to evaluate the Sun awareness programme, a Draw and Write research project was set up to evaluate sun awareness in children. This is a research method that was described in the UK and has been further developed in Jersey. In these studies, children were asked to draw and write in response to specific questions, revealing information about their knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of sun and risk. The study recruited 50 children aged 7 to 8 years from St. Mary's First school.

The key findings were that when asked to draw a child (or themselves) on a hot sunny day, the children remembered the use of shade and clothing as important, but the use of sunglasses, hats and sunscreen was less recognised or practised. Only 14% of children mentioned or drew sun creams or lotions. Umbrellas were drawn, but usually the adults were drawn outside of the shade. Only 4% portrayed the use of sunglasses, but these were being used by the adults and parents and not by children. However, 70% wore adequate clothing. Although this small study does not have the statistical power to draw comparisons, the major differences from the UK and Jersey studies were

	UK 1994	Jersey 1997	Gibraltar 2001
Shade (%)	0.6	12.0	62.0
No cream/lotion (%)	5.8	19.5	4.0

These findings gave the impetus to adapt educational literature for local use more closely to local needs.

The following additional recommendations were also made from the study :

• The use of sunscreen should continue to be encouraged in all sun awareness strategies. Educational campaigns need to be directed at parents. Children need encouragement to wear sunglasses, pointing out that adults are not the only people who need protection.
  
• A Sun Safety policy should be developed with all educational establishments. These should include:
  
• Sun Hats as a part of School uniform
  
• Provision of Shaded areas in playgrounds.
  
• 'Sun aware' school-work planning, e.g., avoiding exposure during the hottest part of the day, advising children to 'cover up'.
  
• Nursery and playgroup carers to take appropriate precautions in providing sun protection.
  
• Possible provision of free sunscreen through push button dispensers in schools.
  
• More information for teachers through in-service training and the provision of resource packs.
  
• More information for the public through public lectures, resource library and literature