# Skin cancer awareness and sun protection advice for outdoor workers in Australia: Review of communication channels to optimise reach and relevance

## TL;DR

This study reviews online resources in Australia to improve how skin cancer awareness and sun protection advice are communicated to outdoor workers.

## Contribution

The study identifies the use of digital tools and traditional methods for communicating sun safety to outdoor workers in Australia.

## Key findings

- Most resources (19/25) provided advice on communicating sun protection to outdoor workers.
- Digital tools like the SunSmart UV app were mentioned in 12/25 resources.
- Non-digital communication methods are still more commonly used than digital ones.

## Abstract

Skin cancer incidence in Australia is among the highest in the world, particularly for outdoor workers, and requires, clear and relevant health promotion resources. Government and non-government organisations across Australia play a key role in providing information and advice on how skin cancer awareness and sun protection advice should be promoted to at-risk population groups like outdoor workers. This study reviewed online resources developed by key organisations around recommended methods for communicating skin cancer awareness and sun protection messages to outdoor workers/outdoor workplaces.

A rapid desktop review was undertaken in April 2021, focusing on publicly available online resources developed by federal government, state governments and cancer councils and available on websites in Australia. Resources included were selected if they addressed skin cancer, skin cancer prevention, sun safety or sun protection for outdoor workplaces and/or outdoor workers. Selected resources were re-reviewed in November 2024 to compare for changes.

Twenty-five resources were included in this review. Most (19/25) provided advice about how to communicate skin cancer awareness/sun protection messages to outdoor workers, while some did not (4/25). Use of digital technology to reach outdoor workers with sun-safe messages was mentioned in 12/25 resources. These resources mainly encouraged the use of the SunSmart Ultraviolet (UV) mobile application (8/25), specific sun-safety websites (3/25) and/or participation in an online course (2/25). Resources also mentioned non-digital ways of communicating information to outdoor workers.

Digital technology is increasingly being used to communicate skin cancer prevention-related messages to outdoor workers, but non-digital ways are still more common. Increasing awareness about the effectiveness of digital health interventions in skin cancer prevention via online resources is essential for future-proofing sun-safety uptake in contemporary outdoor workplaces.