Abstract
Efforts to prevent melanoma, especially for those at elevated risk for the disease, should ideally begin during childhood. However, there are few preventive interventions targeting children who are at higher risk for melanoma due to a family history of the disease. Further, there are no educational interventions that aim to help these at-risk children understand their risk for melanoma and the ways in which preventive behaviors, such as sun protection, can mitigate their risk. The current paper describes a multidisciplinary team’s process for creating a developmentally appropriate educational intervention about melanoma risk and prevention for children ages 8–17 years who have a family history of melanoma. Drawing from the fields of dermatology, health behavior change and education, genetic risk communication, science education, and graphic arts, the multimedia intervention created covers key learning points relevant to understanding melanoma, the role of DNA damage in melanoma development, inherited risk factors for melanoma, environmental factors causing DNA damage, and methods for preventing DNA damage, such as sun protective behaviors. Lessons learned during the development of the educational intervention, particularly relevant to multidisciplinary team interactions, are discussed. Implications for future testing and refinement of the novel educational content are also reviewed.
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Acknowledgements
We greatly appreciate Franklin Timpson from the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center for his assistance creating the photographic illustrations of melanoma preventive behaviors described in this manuscript.
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This work was supported, in part, by a pilot grant from Cancer Control and Population Sciences at Huntsman Cancer Institute (funds in conjunction with grant P30 CA042014 awarded to Huntsman Cancer Institute) and the Office of Communications and Genetic Counseling Shared Resource supported by the same grant. In addition, this work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K07CA196985 (Y.P.W.) and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation (Y.P.W., K.A.K.); NCI R01 CA158322 (L.G.A., S.A.L.); and NCI R01 CA168608 (K.A.K.). Efforts by Drs. Cassidy and Leachman were also supported in part by the Knight Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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Wu, Y.P., Aspinwall, L.G., Nagelhout, E. et al. Development of an Educational Program Integrating Concepts of Genetic Risk and Preventive Strategies for Children with a Family History of Melanoma. J Canc Educ 33, 774–781 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1144-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1144-9