Self-care has been a hot topic in recent years, as people are looking more holistically at their mental, physical and emotional self. This includes educating oneself on ways to be proactive at taking care of the body, researching organic foods and non-toxic cosmetics.
Sunscreen use and UV rays have also been top-of-mind, something Annalea Trask, program coordinator, Cancer Prevention In Action, Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, and Kerri Mahoney, director of the Center for Prevention and Outreach (CPO), have felt needed more representation on the Stony Brook campus.
Mahoney explained students were increasingly concerned about skin cancer and prevention, so CPO started offering free sun safety kits that contained packets of sunscreen and sunglasses, free of charge to students. However, said Mahoney, there was more work to be done regarding sun exposure, and between students and research, the duo landed on some pretty promising findings.
“Several students, including some all-star medical students, were looking into getting Stony Brook University certified as a sun safety campus, which requires free sunscreen to be available on campuses,” said Mahoney. During this time, the Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) received a grant from the NYS Department of Health to support skin cancer prevention interventions in local communities in Suffolk and Nassau Counties.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect to bring this program to life, and now there are free sunscreen dispensers dotting the campus, in hopes that it brings awareness to sun cancer and other harmful effects of UVA and UVB rays.
“One of the initiatives [in the grant] is the placement of sunscreen dispensers in key areas on campus to increase access to sunscreen and encourage sunscreen use in outdoor spaces on campus. We are proud to launch this initiative in support of our mission to increase skin cancer prevention at Stony Brook University,” explained Trask.
Two of the dispensers have already been placed — one in the CPO office and the other in the Walter J. Hawrys Recreation Center lobby. Mahoney said that dispensers three and four have not been placed yet, but they are eyeing the lobbies of the Student Activities Center and the Stony Brook Union.
The dispensers and sunscreen are from Sunstation USA, which manufactures SPF 30 broad-spectrum sunscreen that the company says is 100 percent all-natural, eco-friendly and reef-safe. The support for this program will run for one year; however, Mahoney said that they plan to reasses the need for dispensers and product after that time.
Peer educators will check the dispensers weekly to determine usage rates and needs for refills, and CPO will be responsible for refilling the phase one dispensers that the Cancer Center gifted/donated to CPO as part of their grant.
“We hope that coupled with continued educational efforts, the availability of free sunscreen in high traffic areas of campus will support students in reducing their skin cancer risk,” Mahoney said.
Want to learn more about skin cancer prevention? The Office of Community Outreach and Engagement has a website full of resources to help. Check it out here.
— Emily Cappiello
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