Sun Safe Partners: A pilot and feasibility trial of a couple-focused intervention to improve sun protection practices

Abstract

This single arm pilot intervention study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary impact of a Sun Safe Partners, which is a couple-focused intervention targeting improved sun protection behavior. Data were collected from New Jersey between August 2015 and March 2016. Participants were 61 couples reporting low levels of sun protection recruited from an online panel. After providing online consent, couples received mailed pamphlets and participated in a call where they discussed current levels of sun protection, made an Action Plan to improve sun protection, and discussed ways of assisting one another in improving sun protection. A call summary was mailed afterwards. Feasibility was assessed by study enrollment, call participation, follow-up survey completion, and intervention evaluation. Participants completed a baseline survey, and a one month and six month post-intervention survey assessing sun protection as well as individual and relationship-centered sun protection attitudes and practices. Results indicated that acceptance into the trial was 22.1%. Call participation was high (84%) and the intervention was well-evaluated. Among the 51 couples who completed the call and a follow-up, the intervention improved sun protection behaviors. Sun protection benefits, photo-aging risk, and relationship-centered attitudes and practices increased. A couple-focused intervention shows promise for improving sun protection. Future studies using a randomized clinical trial as well as strategies to improve study participation are recommended.

Sun Safe Partners Online: Pilot Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

“…Participants rated whether they engaged in 10 support behaviors for sun protection in the past month. Sample item: “Encouraged my spouse to apply sunscreen”; alphas ranged from .73 to .81 [ 25 ]. One item assessed the degree to which participants received support for sun protection from their spouse who supported their sun protection.…”

“…In a prior study, we developed and tested a couple-focused print and telephone counseling intervention called Sun Safe Partners [ 25 ]. Content was guided by the interdependence and communal coping framework.…”

“…Results from a small, nonrandomized trial showed that couples’ sun protection behaviors significantly increased after the intervention. We also observed increases in attitudes about the importance of one’s own engagement in sun protection for the partner, relationship, and partner-centered motivations to engage in better sun protection [ 25 ]. However, intervention uptake was low, and implementation was challenging for our enrollees; it was difficult to schedule couples for the 1-hour phone call, deliver the content, and create implementation plans to improve sun protection for both partners.…”

“…Furthermore, content was added to address the risks of sun exposure to children, assess a child’s risk factors, and set sun protection goals for the child for couples who have children in the home. We chose a social media advertisement recruitment strategy to examine whether this strategy resulted in better uptake than our prior work [ 25 ].…”

“…Acceptability was assessed by a self-report evaluation of both interventions. We also compared our social media recruitment approach to the web-based panel approach utilized in our previous study [ 25 ]. The second aim was to assess the impact of Sun Safe Partners Online on the primary outcomes of sun protection and sun exposure and our intervention processes, which were individual and relationship attitudes and practices about sun protection.…”