EPA SunWise© Curriculum: Washington County School District Educators' Perspectives for Inclusion in School Health Curriculum

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness of sun protection practices in reducing incidence of skin cancer. Melanoma skin cancer rates have dramatically risen due to the lack of sun protective behaviors demonstrated by adolescents and young adults. Utah has the 4th highest incidence of melanoma in the nation and Washington County has the 2nd highest incidence rate in the state. The Washington County School District does not currently have a sun protection curriculum in place as part of their health curriculum. The Environmental Protection Agency has a sun protection curriculum that has been used in all 50 states during the past 13 years and has been shown to be effective in reducing sunburn incidence and improving knowledge and attitudes about sun protection. The literature has shown that as little as 1-2 hours of education regarding sun-protective behaviors improves sun protection knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. This project will address the gap in the WCSD's health curriculum by targeting educators in the district for an intervention that will increase awareness of the SunWise© program through exposure to its curriculum. with the following objectives Objectives for this project are as follows: 1. SunWise© Tool Kit for educators will be made available in every K-7 school of the district. 2. Educators will evaluate the SunWise© curriculum and determine its appropriateness for incorporation into the district's current health courses. 3. The Washington County School District board will approve implementation of the SunWise© program as part of the annual health curriculum in all K-7 schools within the district 4. Outcomes of the project will be disseminated within a professional forum. Teachers of students in grades K-7 in the district were recruited to evaluate the curriculum based on a 45-minute introductory module delivered in an online format. After completing the module, teachers were asked to complete a brief questionnaire to evaluate the SunWise© program content and its appropriateness for inclusion in the district's current health classes. Participation was voluntary and recruitment took place through the assessment and research department of the district via email invitation. Three subsequent reminders were sent to increase participation. Due to low participation data was insufficient to determine if educators had favorable attitudes to the program or whether they favored its inclusion in the Washington County School District health curriculum at this time. However, the modules will continue to be available to teachers beyond the limits of this project.