Describe what you do day to day?
I work within the community empowering people to make informed decisions about their health specifically around screening and early detection of Cancer, to increase their chance of survival against the illness. The interactive awareness sessions give the community information on the three national screening programmes: bowel, breast and cervical cancer. We also offer advice and support on prostate cancer, as well has looking at early signs and symptoms as we know early detection saves lives.
Unfortunately, discussing cancer is a taboo in some communities and it can be hidden, meaning that some people aren’t aware of the symptoms. We are keen to break down these taboos and work with the communities to find ways to address these. Our sessions are bespoke and we work with varied communities including ethnic minority groups, carers, men, deprived communities and LGBTQ+ communities. We work in the heart of the communities with existing groups. We also take stalls in marketplaces and carnivals as part of our community outreach. All our sessions are interactive, and we try to make it as fun as possible.
Fulfilling aspect of the role:
I’m passionate about equality for all. Being able to help people take control of their own health is extremely rewarding. I love developing different ways of engaging with different communities to get the messages across and in a way they feel comfortable. The sessions are a learning place not only for the community but for me also. I learn something new from each group I deliver to. It’s great to see people approaching me at the end and saying things like ‘I’ve never been for screening and ignored the letters, but I will definitely book mine now’, ‘I have had some of those symptoms and been ignoring them, now I will make an appointment and get it checked’.
Greatest achievements?
Breaking down some of the myths and misconceptions in the community and getting people to think about cancer as a curable disease if caught early on. The fear of death has stopped people coming forward – if they have early signs and just ignore them.
We developed some Ramadan packs for the mosques during Ramadan, which contained information on the three national screening programmes and TB. These were given to mosques around Manchester and the Imaan at the mosques did a special sermon on the importance of Cancer screening. In Ramadan these mosques have hundreds of people coming for the special night prayers, so the message was being delivered to them at this time.
Also working with Adult Education ‘Talk English Group’ developing bespoke training for those who English isn’t their first language. We developed pictorial games and interactive ways to get messages across.
Challenges?
There are challenges working with different communities with different cultural barriers around Cancer. It’s been challenging to find different ways of getting the message across, where the viewpoints have been embedded into communities for generations. We have been working with the communities to find solutions to these. Developing bespoke sessions for all the different communities has proven to be successful, everyone has different needs – it’s about equity which leads to equality.