Grant: Operating Grant: CCS/CIHR Action Grants

Need for project Despite being highly preventable, skin cancer represents a significant public health issue for Canadians as it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and results in substantial economic costs. Outdoor workers are at an increased risk of skin cancer and are often inadequately protected. Mobile phone apps have been shown to be effective in cancer prevention activities, particularly if providing tailored content. However, no sun safety apps exist which provide tailored content for outdoor workers. Goal of project To use new technology in a novel way to prevent skin cancer, we will develop and trial a sun safety app for outdoor workers in Canada that provides content and regular messaging/reminders which are highly tailored to individual users/workers based on their personal characteristics and skin cancer risk, geographic location, workplace and job tasks. Project description We will develop a sun safety app that provides prevention focused content and regular text messaging for outdoor workers which is tailored to individual workers based on a self-completed profile of their skin cancer risk, their workplace and job characteristics. As a proof-of-concept, the app will be trailed with outdoor workers in rural municipalities and agriculture in Saskatchewan and the effectiveness of the app to improve sun safety practices and behaviours will be evaluated. Future impact Mobile communication technologies have changed the way we live and work and have the potential to revolutionize cancer prevention. Even though there are a lot of skin cancer prevention apps available for the general public, only one has been formally evaluated and none are publicly available for outdoor workers. The evidence from recently published studies suggests that an app designed for occupational sun safety and which provides highly tailored content and regular personalized messaging/reminders would be highly effective in improving skin cancer prevention practices within the highest risk group within the community, outdoor workers.