A Randomized Study of Shade Sails and Passive Recreation in Public Parks in Two Hemispheres
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer1 but the primary risk factor for skin cancer, UV exposure, is the most avoidable.2 Purpose-built shade not only reduces UV exposure,3 it can also come with other benefits like provide protection without requiring planning4 and may even provide protection for individuals with negative attitudes towards sun safety who seek shade to keep cool.5
In a recent publication in American Journal of Public Health, KB’s Dr. David Buller, Mary Buller and collaborators in Australia, at the University of Melbourne (Dr. Dallas English) and Cancer Council Victoria, (Dr. Suzanne Dobbinson) conducted a stratified randomized study in Melbourne, Australia and Denver, Colorado where shade sails were built in 1 of 2 passive recreation areas (PRAs) in full sun in 144 parks (71 in Melbourne and 73 in Denver). The use of the PRAs with shade sails built as part of the study were compared with the nearby non-shaded PRAs for use by park visitors. The authors tested two hypotheses – the first being that the introduction of shade sails over PRAs would increase the use of these PRAs by visitors compared to unshaded PRAs – and the second being that the increase in use of shaded PRAs would be larger in Melbourne, Australia than Denver, Colorado due to stronger norms for sun safety in Australia than the United States.
Public parks enrolled in the study had to contain at least two unshaded PRAs that were in full sun at pretest, and one of the two PRAs had to contain a space where a shade sail could be constructed. Trained observers made observations at the PRAs for 30-minute periods on four weekend days during a 20-week period in the summer months for each city at pretest and posttest to determine the number of visitors during peak UV hours (11 am to 3 pm). Shade sails were designed to be attractive while also providing shade during peak UV times and the shade cloth selected reduced UV by at least 94%. …