Setting survivorship in context: Life after cancer treatment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Setting survivorship in context: Life after cancer treatment in an inner city
IRAS ID
129549
Contact name
Alison Bravington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Hull
Research summary
In 2007, the Department of Health’s Cancer Reform Strategy highlighted the need to expand care for cancer survivors. The proportion of patients living beyond cancer is growing by 3% a year, and by 2040, a quarter of people over 65 are likely to be living with a history of cancer. Previous research has demonstrated that low income and deprived living circumstances can play a role in the presentation of cancer symptoms and in people’s experience and uptake of care, and can magnify the negative effects of health problems. The Hull inner city area contains some of the most disadvantaged communities in England, and there is a need to shape the development of local health policy in a way which is sensitive to this social context. Research into lay perspectives on health and illness in socially disadvantaged areas has yet to cross-over with the cancer literature, and equitable follow-up services will rely on developing our understanding in this area.
This project will address the interplay between social context, well-being and cancer survivorship in inner city Hull. It seeks to engage participants from socially disadvantaged areas by using visual methods alongside conventional research interviews and focus groups. Thirty participants treated for breast, prostate and colorectal cancer with curative intent will be interviewed for the project, once approximately six weeks after treatment has ended and again six months later. Participant photography — a method successfully employed in recent health research — will be used to help interviewees talk through their experiences of life after cancer treatment. Focus groups with cancer survivors will be used to set individual experiences in a broader perspective.
The research will take place within the context of a PhD project, with a view to informing the currently thin theoretical base beneath the lived experience of social inequalities in cancer care.
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/1167
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion