The Use of Community-Based Primary Care Clinics for the Prevention of Skin Cancers: A Model Proposal

Abstract

Given the global, national, and local impact of skin cancer in terms of morbidity/mortality as well as direct economic cost to treat, and the fact that skin cancer development in adulthood is mediated by exposure to ultraviolet radiation in youth and adolescence, the development of a skin cancer prevention program is of primary public health importance. This program will build upon the success of a similar program developed by MD Anderson Cancer Centre, which focused on the day-care environment and which has been shown to raise the capacity of parents, caregivers and children to engage in preventative sun exposure behaviour. This prevention programme will utilize the Health Belief Model (HBM) to increase sunscreen and protective clothing usage among pre/school age children of the patients of a primary care paediatrics practice in Las Vegas, Nevada, by providing their caregivers the knowledge/capacity to recognize the risks of sun exposure and adopt healthy sun protection habits for their children.

Keywords: skin cancer, health belief model, HBM, public health, prevention, risk factors, primary care, behavioural change