Reducing Cancer Risk in Social Networks of Colorectal Cancer Patients

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  "I wish I could do more": Reducing cancer risk in the family and social networks of recovering colorectal cancer patients

• IRAS ID

  216064

• Contact name

  Farhat Din

• Contact email

  Farhat.Din@ed.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Edinburgh

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 11 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is largely preventable, yet the overall 5-year survival rate in the UK is poor (58.7%). Poor or inadequate diet, physical inactivity, obesity, excessive alcohol intake and smoking are key risk factors. As lifestyle interventions and sustained change may decrease an individual’s risk, there is considerable justification for focusing on promoting healthy decision-making that results in targeted population risk reduction. We propose an innovative approach to address the CRC epidemic, informed by our direct clinical insights:

  1. Cancer patients are frequently accompanied by relatives or friends, many of whom would benefit from health assessments and personalised advice on CRC risk factors.
  2. Cancer patients’ partners often neglect their own health while caring for the recovering CRC patient.
  3. Recovering CRC patients often enquire about specific measures they or their family should undertake to reduce cancer risk.
  4. Cancer survivors are increasingly voicing their wish to ‘do more’ for family, friends and other CRC patients.

  Interventions involving people who understand, through first-hand experience, their own cancer risk are more likely to be effective than those without direct experience of cancer. We hypothesise that there are ‘teachable moments’ when individuals who know a cancer patient evaluate their own risk behaviours and subsequently are more receptive to intervention, potentially leading to recursive (i.e. repeated) sustained behavioural change. Our rationale is that a recovering CRC patient can act as a powerful advocate by recruiting family and/or friends who will be interested in and receptive to cancer-risk reduction through personalised intervention programmes.

  The study aims are to:

  1. Assess the current levels of health advocacy amongst CRC survivors.
  2. Identify the utility of patients as advocates and test cascade recruitment through the development of a virtual recruitment platform advertised via family and social networks.
  3. Undertake personalised risk-assessment and prevention programmes.
  4. Assess the extent of sustained behaviour change

• REC name

  South East Scotland REC 01

• REC reference

  18/SS/0021

• Date of REC Opinion

  25 Jan 2019

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion