Our activities include:
- Raising awareness and putting this issue higher on the nation's
health agenda
- Researching and evaluating how best to raise awareness and
improve health behaviour
- Developing stronger, longer-lasting partnerships with the
community
- Carrying out research into risk factors and experiences of
prostate cancer
Further information
Why are
African Caribbean men at higher risk?
The higher incidence of prostate cancer in African Caribbean men
in the UK and US is also seen in men of African descent in the
Caribbean and possibly West Africa.
Research is being done to find out why these groups have a
higher risk of prostate cancer but so far, no reasons have been
found.
The similar rates in black Caribbean and black African men
suggests that there may be a genetic link. It may also be related
to diets rich in fat or other lifestyle factors, although there is
no specific evidence that diet is responsible for the raised
risk.
Other
factors also affect the risk of developing prostate cancer,
with increasing age being the most important risk factor.
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Raising awareness
We work with ambassadors in the community to raise awareness of
prostate cancer in African and African Caribbean men and lift the
issue higher on the nation's health agenda. We develop specific awareness
materials and this year we are launching a media awareness
campaign specifically targeting this community.
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Researching different
engagement methods
This includes 3 large pilots between now and March 2015. The
first pilot, currently being delivered until November 2013, will
focus on targeting African and African Caribbean communities in
London and South East England, North West England and Glasgow. Each
of the regions has a dedicated Prostate Cancer UK Specialist Nurse
who works within the community, to raise awareness and provide
one-to-one specialist advice to anyone with prostate-related
concerns.
We will evaluate each pilot to identify best practice and inform
development of long-term services in the future for. For more
information about the pilots, contact Manveet Patel on 0208 563
3913 or manveet.patel@prostatecanceruk.org.
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Developing
stronger partnerships
We are developing ways of working more closely with the
community to ensure better collaborative work, share knowledge and
learning and achieve a greater impact. We are holding an event in
June 2013 to commence this collaborative work, and to set future
priorities together.
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Research
We are investing in research and one of our
priorities is to better understand the risk factors for prostate
cancer, including ethnicity. We also specifically research how
prostate cancer affects the African and African Caribbean community
and how this community accesses service so that we can ensure these
men receive the care they need.
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