Characteristics and Effectiveness of Targeted Melanoma Prevention Interventions for First-Degree Relatives of Melanoma Survivors: An Integrative Review.

First-degree relatives of melanoma survivors have at least a twofold increased risk for developing melanoma, but studies show that they do not regularly adopt sun safety behaviors. While there is no definitive method to prevent skin cancer, there are ways to dramatically reduce the risk. Determining which interventions positively impact the adoption of prevention behaviors will assist in the development of strategies to reduce the occurrence of melanoma in first-degree relatives. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Scopus in December 2024. The search focused on studies related to first-degree relatives of melanoma survivors and included discussion of prevention interventions. Five articles were included in this integrative review. Overall, the studies found that targeted prevention interventions led to improvements in sun protective and screening behaviors in first-degree relatives. However, the effectiveness of these interventions differed, which may have depended on how the interventions were delivered to the target audience and barriers to the adoption of sun protective behaviors. Variation in educational content did not appear to impact results. However, interactive educational content delivered online that involved the entire family was the optimal intervention to foster the adoption of sun safety behaviors in first-degree relatives. This review specifically focused on first-degree relatives of melanoma survivors. However, targeted prevention interventions can be applied to other cancers, due to family history of cancer as a risk factor and the fact that family members tend to share health habits.