Background: Danes have one of the highest incidences of skin cancer in the world, even though Denmark is a small Northen country with relatively low number of hours of sun light a year and a low average UV-index. In part, the high incidence of skin cancer can be explained by the Danes’ love of the sun, their frequent sunny holiday destinations abroad and their sun seeking behavior.
Objective and methods: In this talk a characterization of adult Danes’ behavior in the sun and their approach to sun protection will be presented based on insights deriving from qualitative studies and experiences from The Danish Sun Safety Campaign. The talk will include references to historical and cultural perspectives on cultivation of the sun, beauty ideals related to skin color and tanning as well as risk perceptions related to sun exposure and perspectives for behavior change and prevention.
Results: Key findings on Danes’ motivations for sun seeking behavior include: mental health gains, conceptualizations of what entails ‘a good summer’, cosmetic gains, a false sense of safety by using (inadequate) sun protection and a deterministic notion of 'the damage has already been done' by inappropriate sun behavior in youth, therefore allowing slacking in preventive efforts today.
Conclusion: In order to design effective preventive efforts, in-depth insights about your target groups is key. Examples from the Danish Sun Safety Campaign will be shown as means of inspiration for other countries and organizations interested in designing strategies for prevention rooted in target group insights.