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Go Sun Smart

Worksite sun safety program for employees of ski areas in western North America, developed by researchers with the National Ski Areas Association around 2000. It used posters, brochures, training and sunscreen at the resorts to cut sunburn among outdoor workers and guests.

Years
2000–now
Country
CanadaUnited States
Topic
Sun safety
Asks people to
Start
Strategy
Simple instruction
Channel
EventsPoint of salePrint
Audience
Adults
Employees (and guests) of ski areas.

Evidence

ExperimentalPositive

Pair-matched group-randomized trial at 26 ski areas (Buller 2005): employees at intervention areas reported less sunburning (adjusted OR 1.63), with fewer sunburns where implementation was higher. Effects persisted into the following summer (Andersen 2008, 1,463 employees): less sunburn and more sun-safety behaviors than at control resorts.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Klein Buendel and university researchers (Buller, Andersen, Walkosz) Academic, developer and evaluator (per author affiliations)
  • National Ski Areas Association Industry, industry partner

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Sources

  1. Buller DB et al. Randomized trial testing a worksite sun protection program in an outdoor recreation industry. Health Educ Behav 2005;32(4):514-35 evaluation · 2005 · DOI 10.1177/1090198105276211 · PMID 16009748
  2. Andersen PA et al. Expanding occupational sun safety to an outdoor recreation industry: a translational study of the Go Sun Smart program. Transl Behav Med 2012;2(1):10-18 evaluation · 2012 · DOI 10.1007/s13142-011-0101-8 · PMID 23105954
  3. Buller DB et al. Sustained use of an occupational sun safety program in a recreation industry: follow-up to a randomized trial on dissemination strategies. Transl Behav Med 2015;5(4):361-71 evaluation · 2015 · DOI 10.1007/s13142-015-0321-4 · PMID 26622909
  4. Andersen PA et al. Testing the long-term effects of the Go Sun Smart worksite health communication campaign: a group-randomized experimental study. J Commun 2008;58(3):447-471 evaluation · 2008 · DOI 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00394.x
  5. Walkosz BJ et al. Dissemination of go sun smart in outdoor recreation: effect of program exposure on sun protection of guests at high-altitude ski areas. J Health Commun 2014 evaluation · 2014 · DOI 10.1080/10810730.2013.864725 · PMID 24617350
  6. Andersen PA et al. Testing a theory-based health communication program: a replication of Go Sun Smart in outdoor winter recreation. J Health Commun 2009 evaluation · 2009 · DOI 10.1080/10810730902873117 · PMID 19466647

Research notes

Created 2026-10-22 by literature mining (PubMed/OpenAlex); evidence level, outcome and findings are paraphrased from the evaluation abstracts, full texts not read. No credits: no page naming an agency was checked. Start year and the National Ski Areas Association partnership are from secondary memory, not the abstracts; confirm. New topic value 'sun-safety' (not yet in docs/taxonomy.md). Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Walkosz 2014, Andersen 2009; evidence level and outcome unchanged.

Record cases/go-sun-smart.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign