The most common type of cancer in the United States is skin cancer. For an individual that could visibly see signs of skin cancer on their body, they might be more likely to visit the doctor. That is the same thinking a group of professors from BYU and the University of Utah has that as they looked for the most effective ways to influence people to screen themselves for cancer.
The researchers discovered that visual stimulation has a significant impact on those whom they studied, a group of more than 2,200 adults ages 18 to 89 from across the country. The outcomes of their survey demonstrate that UV skin damage visuals can cause viewers to feel fear, which then made these people more likely to participate in positive sun-safe behaviors such as wearing sunscreen or protective clothing.
The National Institutes of Health funded the research, and after reviewing the materials, the team asked each person how likely they were to use various sun safety behaviors in the future, such as using sunscreen, wearing protective clothing, staying in the shade, and wearing sunglasses.
Co-author of the study and an assistant professor in BYU's School of Communications, Kevin John, said that just talking about skin cancer, being inundated with facts and mortality rates, all of that is fear-inspiring language, but the images were so powerful that they moved people to intend to take action.
The researchers investigated a variety of techniques showing people facts, stock photos of other people in the sun, photos where moles have been removed, and so on. In total, they used 60 different variations to figure out what method was the most effective.
In addition to sharing facts and figures, John and colleagues were able to take unique UV photos using a VISIA UV complexion analysis system to capture images of skin damage on faces of members from the research team.
On the surface, it is possible for people not to notice signs of skin cancer, but with the VISIA UV camera system, UV photographs are capable of revealing existing skin damage caused by UV light exposure which is ordinarily invisible to the naked eye.
According to John, the UV photos, and one particular image of a mole removed were the most effective in terms of influencing someone to change their behavior. This strategy tells them that these are the types of images they need to use to convince people to screen themselves for cancer. Over time, they hope this will cause mortality rates to drop.
