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Abstract

Background:

An economic evaluation of Sun Safe Schools intervention designed to aid California elementary schools with implementing sun safety practices consistent with local board–approved policy.

Design:

Program cost analysis: intervention delivery and practice implementation.

Setting:

California elementary schools (58 interventions and 60 controls). Principals at 52 intervention and 53 control schools provided complete implementation data.

Participants:

Principals completing pre-/postintervention surveys assessing practice implementation.

Intervention:

Phone-based 45-minute session with a project coach on practice implementation, follow-up e-mails/phone contacts, $500 mini-grant. Schools chose from a list of 10 practices for implementation: ultraviolet monitoring, clothing, hats, and/or sunscreen recommendations, outdoor shade, class education, staff training and/or modeling, parent outreach, and resource allocation. The duration of intervention was 20 months. Rolling recruitment/intervention: February 2014 to December 2017.

Measures:

Intervention delivery and practice implementation costs. Correlations of school demographics and administrator beliefs with costs.

Analysis:

Intervention delivery activities micro-costed. Implemented practices assessed using costing template.

Results:

Intervention schools: 234 implemented practices, control schools: 157. Twenty-month delivery costs: $29 310; $16 653 (per school: $320) for project staff, mostly mini-grants and coaching time. Administrator costs: $12 657 (per school: $243). Per-student delivery costs: $1.01. Costs of implemented practices: $641 843 for intervention schools (per-school mean: $12 343, median: $6 969); $496 365 for controls (per-school mean: $9365, median: $3123). Delivery costs correlated with implemented practices (0.37, P < .01) and total practice costs (0.37, P < .05). Implemented practices correlated with principal beliefs about the importance of skin cancer prevention to student health (0.46, P < .001) and parents (0.45, P < .001).

Conclusion:

Coaching of elementary school personnel can stimulate sun safety practice implementation at a reasonable cost. Findings can assist schools in implementing appropriate sun safety practices.

Keywords

cost cancer sun protection schools policy

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Economic Evaluation of a Sun Protection Promotion Program in California Elementary Schools

Abstract

Background:

Design:

Setting:

Participants:

Intervention:

Measures:

Analysis:

Results:

Conclusion:

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References