Improving uptake of bowel cancer screening in the South Asian community
Lead researcher: Professor Lesley Smith
Location: University of Hull
Grant award: £24,681
The number of people from the South Asian community that take part in bowel cancer screening in the UK is low, at around 30%. Professor Lesley Smith from the University of Hull along with colleagues at Oxford Brookes University and Liverpool John Moores will investigate reasons why uptake is low and begin to develop a new project that encourages more people to take part in screening.
The challenge
Bowel cancer screening is one of the best ways to diagnose bowel cancer at the earliest stage, when treatment has the best chance of success. Adults from the South Asian community in the UK are typically less likely to take part in screening. Although some research has been done in this area, we still don’t really know why this group in particular are less likely to take part.
The science behind the project
The researchers will conduct a series of workshops and focus groups with South Asian men and women in Oxford to understand more about people’s decision making around bowel cancer screening. They will use this insight to develop a new community project aiming to increase the number of people taking part in bowel screening.
What difference will this project make?
Screening is one of the best ways to diagnose bowel cancer at the earliest stage, when treatment has the best chance of success. Increasing the number of people who take part therefore means that lives could be saved. This research has the potential to increase the number of people from the South Asian community that take part in screening in Oxford. If successful, the researchers would like to extend the project further to improve screening in other parts of the country too.
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