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An innovative way of encouraging young people in Devon to think twice about using sunbeds or burning in the sun has been shortlisted for a national award.  

Exeter College beauty students teamed up with NHS Devon to run a public health campaign to show fellow students and clients the risks of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.  

The ‘Love Your Skin’ campaign has been shortlisted for the 2011 Health Service Journal Awards. As part of the campaign students were given training to use an ultraviolet facial scanner.  

This reveals the early signs of skin damage and shows people the damage already done to their skin.  

The students also gave advice to fellow students and tutors on finding out their skin type and how they can protect their skin in the sun to avoid burning. This included fake tanning demonstrations to show a safer alternative to sunbathing or sunbeds.  

Devon has some of the highest rates of malignant melanoma in the country, due in part to the high number of hours of sunshine in the county, and nationally rates are particularly high in 15-34 year olds.  

Dr Virginia Pearson, NHS Devon’s director of public health, said she was pleased the campaign had been shortlisted for a national award and hopes it will make young people think twice about tanning in the sun or on sunbeds.  

“This campaign is all about training students to show people the dangers of exposure to UV,” she said.  

“About 80 per cent of skin cancer could be prevented by avoiding overexposure to ultraviolet from the sun or sunbeds,  

“Younger people might feel a tan looks good now, but UV exposure is the biggest cause of early ageing in the skin, making it look coarse, leathery and wrinkled.”  

Student Candy Walton, a student at Exeter College when the project started, said she used to go on a sunbed five times a week for twenty minutes.  

But now she said, “I know the damage it can do to my skin and that’s why I’m trying to use fake tan instead.  

“I used to worry about the streaking so it was good to have the application explained."  

Nick Bridge, health and wellbeing manager at Exeter College, said “Being shortlisted for this award that we ran with NHS Devon is an example of the excellent partnership work on this important health issue.”  

The Health Service Journal awards final celebrates health service innovation and the final takes place in November.

 

For further information you may wish to see the Devon Skin Cancer Prevention Strategy 2011-14 page.