CASE STUDY
Mountains of Hope Coalition
Program
Practice Safe Skin
Location
West Virginia
Situation
Mountains of Hope (MOH) is a statewide coalition of organizations and members working together to reduce the burden of cancer in the Mountain State. As a coalition, building partnerships at the state and community level enables collaboration to secure resources for the greatest impact on cancer health outcomes in the state.
The Coalition is focused on implementing evidence-based cancer prevention, early detection, and quality of life strategies outlined in the West Virginia Cancer Plan. The Cancer Plan is a roadmap with priority areas, objectives and strategies that guides the MOH coalition. West Virginia ranks 30th in the nation for melanoma skin cancer incidence, and 2nd in the nation for melanoma skin cancer mortality.
The Mountains of Hope Coalition Prevention Subcommittee focused on Cancer Plan Aim 3 to reduce the incidence and mortality of cancers related to ultra-violet light exposure. To achieve these goals, the Coalition is implementing environmental change intervention with outdoor recreational and tourism settings to promote sun protective behaviors, referred to as the West Viriginia Sun Safety Project.
How Partnering with IMPACT Melanoma Began
Natalie Thomas, melanoma survivor and Mountains of Hope Coalition (MOH) member, initially partnered with IMPACT Melanoma to encourage sun safety and skin cancer prevention in Kanawha County, her home county. Natalie worked with her dermatologist to purchase a sunscreen dispenser for use at various events across Charleston in 2022. Following this initial effort in West Virginia, the city of Nitro worked with Natalie and IMPACT Melanoma to purchase their own sunscreen dispenser.
Based off this success, Natalie approached WV Health Right who agreed to purchase 20 dispensers to be placed around Kanawha and Putnam Counties in partnership with local businesses. Due to the success of the first 20 dispensers, WV Health Right agreed to purchase an additional 20 dispensers to extend the reach of sunscreen access in Kanawha and Putnam Counties.
Expanding the Partnership with IMPACT Melanoma
Mary Ellen Conn, Director, Community Outreach and Engagement at West Virginia’s Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, was interested in evidenced-based programs to reduce the incidences of melanoma and melanoma mortality rates by first focusing on the counties having the highest numbers for melanoma. She was familiar with the above-described grassroots efforts working with IMPACT Melanoma.
Starting in February of 2024, the IMPACT Melanoma staff worked with Mountains of Hope Coalition including Mary Ellen and Lauren Wright, MOH Coalition Manager, to expand the initial grassroots sunscreen dispenser program to establish a pilot program focused on two counties, Mineral and Summers County, to reach rural, low-income areas with accessibility to free sunscreen and to promote a change in behaviors to focus on melanoma prevention.
Implementation of the Pilot Program
Within the Coalition, a champion volunteered to secure community partners to support the installation and maintenance of sunscreen dispensers in the two counties. While Coalition members were concerned this could be a high hurdle to overcome, they were amazed how each champion secured community partners to support the sunscreen dispensers being installed.
The West Virginia Sun Safety Project with Mountains of Hope Coalition
Practice Safe Skin is IMPACT Melanoma’s anchor program that provides prevention education and access to free sunscreen through sunscreen dispensers strategically located in Mineral and Summers Counties including state parks, city and community pools, campgrounds, city parks, and a popular river access point. Community partners including the Family Resource Network and a community hospital were instrumental in identifying locations to reach a large population in each county, including low- income communities.
The IMPACT
While the West Virginia Sun Safety Program is early in its implementation, both Mary Ellen and Lauren reflect on the positive impact the effort has had in its infancy including increasing the availability and access to sunscreen use that will have a lasting impact on reducing incidences of skin cancer and lowering mortality rates.
The county champions have secured strong community partners; creating the foundation for an expansion plan using these two counties as examples for attracting community partners.
The plan is to continue to expand the Sun Safety Project working with IMPACT Melanoma to reach more counties with sunscreen dispensers and to target school-age children through community school-based health centers to encourage adopting sun safe healthy habits at a young age.
As a West Virginian, I am proud of how many community partners have embraced the Sun Safety Project to promote sun safety behaviors in their communities. The initial success of committed community partners and the reach that has been achieved speaks to the people of West Viriginia and our spirit to effect positive change.
I am happy with our initial implementation of West Virginia’s Sun Safety Project partnering with IMPACT Melanoma. Expansion and sustainability are important criteria for any initiative the Coalition implements and IMPACT Melanoma’s programs check both boxes. It is our plan to expand this project across the state adding additional counties while looking to incorporate other IMPACT Melanoma programs that will help us achieve our Cancer Plan goals and serve our communities.
