Skin Cancer Essay

Document Type:Thesis

Subject Area:Psychology

Document 1

Australia records the highest rate of skin cancer globally. In fact, statistics have shown that two out of three people living in Australia are likely to get skin cancer when they attain the age of seventy years, thus attributing to two-thirds of the population. Also, it is essential to note that there are about 750,000 people who are diagnosed and treated for skin cancer annually in the country. Among them, nearly 2,000 dies from the menace (Iannacone & Green, 2014). Skin protection from the sun is therefore crucial. Health promotion strategies The media has been used to promote campaigns or strategies to enhance skin protection behaviors in Australia. According to Iannacone and Green (2014), the mass media has over the years been utilized to address behavioral risk factors in health programmes.

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Different types of media platforms have been exploited including print media, television, radio, and so forth. Most importantly, campaigns have gotten aimed at reducing the continued increase in the spread of skin cancer among other diseases by increasing awareness and insisting on the importance of constant skin protection. These educational campaigns have been directly affecting the community by raising emotional responses which tend to influence decision making at the individual level. Also, people showed an attitude of caution and increased knowledge after the campaigns (Dobinson et al. Comparatively, in another study, research was conducted over a seven-year period to assess people's attitudes about suntans. Before that, assessments were done to determine citizens aged 12-69 years’ sun protection behaviors. It was found that kid's sun protection behaviors were reasonably admirable while those of adults and adolescents were poor.

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The campaigns were broadcasted on television and featured a surgeon explaining the risks of skin cancer and melanoma and preventive measures while showing scenes from an operation to get rid of melanoma on a patient. For example, school-based programs have worked to disseminate information both written and visual. One of such programs is run by the Hunter Melanoma Foundation which offers sun safety products to primary school children. Additionally, the foundation has also distributed a DVD titled ‘Don’t get cut’ around high schools in New South Wales. Healthy eating has also been promoted among the citizens to reduce skin cancer (Marks, 2010). Research has shown that eating food that contains high antioxidant context prevents skin cancer because the food contains elements that help the skin to be more resistant to skin cancer.

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Such sun-safe behaviors have ultimately enhanced the health of community members and visitors and led to a reduction in the rates of skin cancer. Additionally, campaigns have been put in place to increase safe sun behaviors (Mols, Haslam, Jetten, & Steffens, 2014). Campaigns have been used to promote skin protection awareness and cancer screening among the Australian population. These campaigns have evolved over the years with the first one being the slip! Slop! Slap! From the Sun Smart campaign (Hollier, Pettigrew, Minto, Slevin, & Strickland, 2016). According to a research done by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, the rates of skin cancer has significantly reduced by 10% among citizens below the age of forty-five years. In another study, 843 participants with a high risk of skin cancer such as those with a family history of melanoma, red hair, type 1 skin and at 45 years and above, and type 2 skin at 65 years and high.

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They participated in self-examinations for three months and 12 monthly cancer screenings over a period of two years. It was noted that about 67 cases were identified and participants put in treatment (Marks, 2010). In both of these studies, the significance of cancer screening is at the core. Unlike the first, the second study also focused on self-examinations. , Glass, D.  C. , Peters, S. , Reid, A. , Benke, G. , Arndt, J. , Goldenberg, J. L. , & Routledge, C. Bronze is beautiful but pale can be pretty: The effects of appearance standards and mortality salience on sun-tanning outcomes. , Wakefield, M.  A. , Jamsen, K.  M. , Herd, N. 1016/j. amepre. 024 Gough, A. , Hunter, R. F. M. , Logan, V. , & Strutton, G. M. Reduced melanoma after regular sunscreen use: randomized trial follow-up.  R.

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