Staff survey

Sun Safety Certification Survey Questions

Survey Questions in the SunWise Sun Safety Certification for Outdoor Recreation Staff

Question Set 1:

To better tailor the content in this tutorial, we’d like to ask you a few questions about yourself. Please provide the most accurate responses you can. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers.

Please select the job that best describes your work as an informal educator of children ages 5-15:

• Lifeguard

• Outdoor aquatics instructor

• Camp counselor

• Athletic coach

• Scout leader

• Park or recreation center staff

• Other: ____________________________________________

Please select the state where you work/volunteer:

• Drop down list of all 50 states and US territories (Enter State: _________________ )

• International (Enter country: _____________________________ )

Please choose your sex:

• Male

• Female

What year were you born in?

a) Drop down list of years starting at 1915 (Enter Year: ________________ )

Please indicate the highest level of education you have completed:

• Some high school

• High school

• Some college/university

• Associates degree (A.A., A.S., R.N., etc.)

• Bachelors degree (B.A., B.S., B.S.N., etc.)

• Some graduate school

• Graduate degree (M.S., M.A., M.S.N., M.D., Ph.D., etc.)

What is the color of your untanned skin? (Choose just one)

• Very Fair

• Fair

• Olive

• Light brown

• Dark brown

• Very dark

What would happen to your skin if you were outside for many sunny days during the summer without any protection? (Choose just one)

• Get very brown and deeply tanned

• Get moderately tanned

• Get mildly or occasionally tanned

• Get no suntan at all or only get freckled

• Don’t know

Question Set 2:

Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your typical behaviors in the sun. Again, please provide the most accurate responses you can. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers.

For the following questions, think about what you do when you are outside during the summer (June-August) on a warm sunny day.

How often do you wear sunscreen?

• Never

• Rarely

• Sometimes

• Often

• Always

How often do you wear a shirt with sleeves that cover your shoulders?

• Never

• Rarely

• Sometimes

• Often

• Always

How often do you wear a hat?

• Never

• Rarely

• Sometimes

• Often

• Always

How often do you stay in the shade or under an umbrella?

• Never

• Rarely

• Sometimes

• Often

• Always

How often do you wear sunglasses?

• Never

• Rarely

• Sometimes

• Often

• Always

Question Set 3:

In the past 12 months, how many times did you have a red or painful sunburn that lasted a day or more?

• 0

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5 or more

In the past 12 months, how many times did you go in the sun in order to get a tan?

1. Enter number (0-365) ________________

In the past 12 months, how many times did you use a sunlamp, sunbed or tanning booth in order to get a tan? Do not include times you got a spray-on tan.

1. Enter number (0-365) ________________

Question Set 4:

Now we’d like to ask you about the children you work with. Again, please provide the most accurate responses you can. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers.

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), how old were the children you worked with? (Choose all that apply)

• 4 years old and younger

• 5-7 years old

• 8-10 years old

• 11-13 years old

• 14-16 years old

• 17 years old and older

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), on average, how many hours a week do you spend outside overseeing children between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.?

• 0 hours

• 1 – 5 hours

• 6 – 15 hours

• 16 – 25 hours

• More than 25 hours

• This is my first summer working with children

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), how many were in your care on a weekly basis?

• 1 – 10

• 11 – 20

• 21 – 30

• 31 – 40

• More than 40

• Don’t know

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), how many of the children in your group were at-risk for sunburn. Examples of at-risk include children who are out in the sun all day or children who have physical attributes that make them at-risk.

• 1 – 10

• 11 – 20

• 21 – 30

• 31 – 40

• More than 40

• Don’t know

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), keeping the children you supervised protected from the sun was:

• Very hard to do

• Somewhat hard to do

• Not too hard, but not too easy to do

• Somewhat easy to do

• Very easy to do

• This is my first summer working with children

Thinking back to the LAST TIME you worked with children in an outdoor setting during the summer (June-August), how many children got a red or painful sunburn on a weekly basis?

• None

• 1 – 10

• 11 – 20

• 21 – 30

• 31 – 40

• More than 40

• Don’t know

Thinking back to the LAST PLACE where you worked with children outdoors, what proportion of the children there used sun protection when outdoors during the summer (June-August)?

• All

• More than half

• About half

• Less than half

• None

• Don’t know

Question Set 5:

Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your role at your organization. Again, please provide the most accurate responses you can. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers.

Thinking back to the last time you worked with children in an outdoor setting, have you ever reminded children to protect themselves from the sun? Examples include reminding children to wear a hat and sunglasses, apply sunscreen, or play in the shade during midday hours.

• Yes

• No

• I have not worked with children before in an outdoor setting

Thinking back to the last time you reminded children to protect themselves from the sun, how receptive were they to sun protection?

• Very receptive

• Somewhat receptive

• Not receptive

• I have not worked with children before in an outdoor setting

If you have ever reminded children in your care to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun, how often did you do this?

• Daily

• Two to three times per week

• One time per week

• One time every other week

• Less frequently than one time every other week

• I have not worked with children before in an outdoor setting

Question Set 6:

Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions about where you work during the summer (June-August). Again, please provide the most accurate responses you can. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers.

Thinking back to the last place where you worked with children outdoors, how much do you agree with the following statement:

During the summer (June-August), most of the staff where you worked protected themselves from the sun when they were outdoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Agree

• Somewhat agree

• Neither agree nor disagree

• Somewhat disagree

• Disagree

Thinking back to the last place where you worked with children outdoors during the summer (June-August), please place a check mark next to all of the actions your place of work took to protect people (staff, adults and children) from overexposure to the sun:

• Reminded children to wear sunscreen.

• Reminded children to reapply sunscreen every two hours.

• Reminded parents to send children with sunscreen.

• Reminded everyone (staff, adults and children) to wear sunscreen.

• Provided sunscreen for children.

• Provided sunscreen for staff.

• Provided sunscreen for everyone (staff, adults and children).

• Required children to wear a hat during outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Required staff to wear a hat during outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Encouraged children to seek shade when possible.

• Encouraged everyone (staff, adults and children) to seek shade when possible.

• Provided shady places for children, staff and adults to eat lunch.

• Provided shady places for recreation activities.

• Posted signage reminding staff, adults and children to practice some form of sun protection.

• Taught children about sun safety.

• Provided parents with information about child injury prevention.

• Provided parents with information about sun protection.

• Required staff to take safety training.

• Required staff to take safety training, including sun safety.

• Other: _______________________________________________________

• Don’t know

Question Set 7:

Before you go, we’d like to ask for your honest feedback about this tutorial and sun safety generally. This information is completely confidential and we will not associate your name with any of your answers. Your answers will be used to improve this certification program and to create better sun safety resources for the outdoor recreation setting. Thank you in advance for your time and candid feedback.

Has this on-line certification program been useful to you?

• Very useful

• Somewhat useful

• Not useful

After taking this certification program, do you think it will be easier to protect children from the sun in an outdoor recreation setting?

• Much more difficult

• Somewhat more difficult

• Not more difficult or easier

• Somewhat easier

• Much easier

How likely are you to teach children in outdoor recreation settings during the summer (June-August) about sun safety?

• Very likely

• Somewhat likely

• Not likely

How difficult is it to protect yourself from overexposure to the sun?

• Very hard to do

• Somewhat hard to do

• Not too hard, but not too easy to do

• Somewhat easy to do

• Very easy to do

If you don’t always protect yourself from the sun, why don’t you? Please select your top three reasons.

• Buying sun protection products is too expensive.

• Why protect myself when I look so much better with a tan?

• I don’t like the way sunscreen feels.

• Wide-brimmed hats don’t look good on me.

• Have you seen what people look like when they are being “safe in the sun?” It isn’t cool!

• The place where I work doesn’t provide shade (umbrellas, trees, etc.).

• The place where I work doesn’t provide sunscreen.

• The place where I work doesn’t provide hats.

• The place where I work doesn’t provide sunglasses.

• No one else is doing it, so why should I?

• It takes too much time.

• I want to practice sun protection, but I forget.

• Other: ________________________________________________________

In your job at an outdoor recreation facility, please pick the two most important reasons to keep children safe from overexposure to the sun:

• My organization’s policies require me to promote and/or practice sun protection.

• I want to keep the children I work with safe.

• I want to keep parents from getting angry about their child’s sunburn.

• I want to keep my boss happy.

• I don’t want to listen to a child complaining about how much their sunburn hurts or itches.

• It’s just the right thing to do.

• I want to keep children from getting skin cancer.

• I want to keep children from getting cataracts.

• Other: ________________________________________________________

• Sun protection is not important, so I don’t have a top two.

For you personally, please pick the two most important reasons to protect yourself from overexposure to the sun:

• I don’t want to get a sunburn.

• I don’t want to get skin cancer.

• I don’t want to get cataracts.

• I want to keep my skin healthy.

• I don’t want wrinkles.

• I want to look as young as possible for as long as possible.

• Other: ___________________________________________________________

• I don’t think protecting myself from overexposure to the sun is important, so I don’t have a top two.

Thanks!

Please let us know if there is anything else you’d like to know? Did you like the tutorial? Did we miss anything? If so, email us at sunwise@epa.gov.

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