Public health responses for skin cancer prevention: the policy framing of Sun Safety in Australia, Canada and England

This paper employs the policy analytic approaches of framing and narrative to examine national differences in public health policies using a case study of Sun Safety programs in Australia, Canada and England. The study shows how a single public health issue identified at the global scale (rising skin cancer rates) is framed differently based upon specific social, cultural and political situations. The result is a different story, or narrative, embedded in each national policy. This study provides an example of how health policy is defined, constrained and limited through the process of problem identification and policy resolution. The paper concludes that framing and narrative analysis are powerful tools for understanding the place-specific implementation of public health policies and initiatives. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.