Oral Presentation Skin Cancer 2024

Queensland Health developed a four-year social marketing program to encourage Queenslanders to reduce harmful ultraviolet radiation exposure and sunburn rates by increasing uptake of the five sun protection behaviours.

Market research was conducted to understand audience behaviours, attitudes, beliefs in relation to sun safety. These insights:

• provided a way to segment the Queensland population
• identified motivators that will help encourage behaviour change
• enabled the establishments of baseline measures and setting of objectives for evaluation.

 As a result, the ‘Increasing the uptake of sun safe behaviours social marketing strategy’ was developed. It is a multi-year strategy, targeting four cohorts:

• Parents (children under 11)
• Young Queenslanders (12-17-year-olds)
• Young Queensland adults (18–34-year-olds)
• Queensland Adults (35+)

The key focus of the strategy is to:

• Increase knowledge and understanding of the risks of ultraviolet radiation exposure, disrupting incorrect beliefs and behaviours, including the way risk of UV exposure is assessed.
• Increase acceptance and year-around uptake of the five sun safe behaviours (slip, slop, slap, seek, slide), making this part of daily routines.
• Increase understanding of the importance of self-skin checks, providing knowledge on what to look out for and when to see a GP.
• Increasing awareness of information and services.

To better address complacency and encourage normalisation of sun safe behaviours a range of communications activities, including campaigns, sponsorships and media activities are rolling out  over the four-year period across various channels.

The social marketing activities will complement outreach skin cancer early detection services being rolled out as part of the program.