Patient Education for Preventing Skin Cancer: Improving Patient Knowledge and Compliance

Abstract

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to develop an audiovisual educational tool to help improve the prevention of skin cancer by teaching ultraviolet (UV) ray avoidance strategies to patients at The Integrative Medical Clinic of North Carolina (IMCNC). The video is to become part of a continuing education video series for new and existing patients. The outcome measure was the intention of participants to change their behavior and adopt UV protection strategies.Background: Skin cancer is the sixth leading type of cancer in North Carolina, fifth in the United States, and worldwide (American Society of Clinical Oncology [ASCO], 2020b). A primary contributor to the high rate of skin cancer is exposure to UV rays, either through sun exposure or the use of tanning beds (Raimondi et al., 2020). While screening for skin cancer has increased skin cancer rates continue to rise and have been doing so for decades (Oliveria et al., 2001). These screenings are secondary prevention measures, but the best primary prevention measure is UV ray avoidance. Primary prevention is simple and cost-effective. Method: This QI project described the outcome of an audiovisual educational tool developed to convey sun protection strategies. The design was a pretest/posttest with an educational intervention consisting of the audiovisual presentation of UV ray avoidance strategies. The project director (PD) recruited study participants from an existing patient list for the clinic using emailed surveys and participation requests. Each patient received a survey to evaluate their knowledge and practices related to UV ray avoidance, then used a short audiovisual tool to enhance baseline education. A posttest followed two weeks later to determine if patients had adopted any/all the strategies presented. Results: The QI project demonstrated that an AV educational tool can be effective at improving patient adoption of UV protection strategies. AV tools provide a method for delivering information in an easily digestible and retainable manner.