Skin cancer prevention in young men

: fostering persuasion towards sun protection behaviour using gender aware human centred design approach

Abstract

Skin cancer caused by exposure to sunlight and sunburn is the second biggest killer of young men aged 18 to 24 and the most preventable cancer. Skin cancer incidence and mortality have increased steadily over recent years in the UK. This thesis presents the development of strategies to foster sun protection behaviour in young men by designing new human-centred interventions. The methodological approach taken in this research is an interpretive methodology which is used to explore the underlying meaning of young men’s actions and experiences in relation to their sun protection behaviour. An exploratory study was conducted involving observations and interviews in a beach location where sun protection behaviour could be observed. The pilot data highlighted a link between young men and their sun protection behaviour and the ways in which concepts of gender and masculinity were instrumental in influencing their sun protection behaviour. The results informed the main study of the research, which was carried out through participatory design sessions. This study engaged the participants in the HCD approach in a gender-aware context which resulted in a range of sun protection interventions. The results led to the inception of the final study, which verified the sun protection interventions and the facilitated gender-aware human-centred design approach. The results highlighted a constructive relationship between HCD principles and understanding gender impacts, thus opening new avenues and knowledge paths to bridge the gap between the world of designers and the world of users. This approach goes beyond the aim of the research and contributes towards two main directions: 1) It presents the development of novel gender-aware human-centred design theory (GAHCD), and 2) it demonstrates a range of sun protection interventions to increase sun protection behaviour in young men. On this basis, the key results are presented in the form of design recommendations and guidelines for sun protection interventions for young men aged 18 to 24.

Date of Award	Dec 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton
Supervisor	Richard Morris (Supervisor) & Mark Erickson (Supervisor)