Dear All
I have just joined this list and sending my first email with a request.
By way of introduction I am currently employed as Public Health Researcher
Bowel Cancer Screening in Tower Hamlets PCT, London. For info, the National
Bowel Cancer Screening Programme was introduced in England in 2006-07 and
has been phased in across the country. Men and women aged 60-69 are
invited every 2 years to participate in the screening programme. The
screening test involves individuals completing a Faecal Occult Blood test
(Fobt) in the privacy of their home. Essentially, this involves participants
placing several samples of their faeces on a special card which is then sent by
post to a central laboratory for analysis.
This new screening programme is different to others (e.g. breast and cervical)
in a number of aspects. For example, it is managed from a central hub and is
the first cancer screening programme to target men. The national target for
uptake is 60%.
The focus of my work is in three East London PCTs (City and Hackney,
Newham, and Tower Hamlets), where uptake is currently in the order of 29-
31%. The populations of the three areas are very diverse - White, African/
Caribbean, Bengali, Indian, Pakistani, Somali, and Turkish among others.
So to my specific request:
i) have you / someone you know worked with any of these communities on
cancer screening (does not have to be bowel cancer)? If so, I would be keen
to hear from you. If you have any project reports etc that you can share I
would be most grateful.
ii) I would also welcome any other suggestions on key reports / grey
documentation which covers any work in this area
iii) and finally, are you aware of any Good Practice Guides in the area of
cancer screeing?
Thanks for reading this and looking forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Mike Ahern
Public Health Researcher Bowel Cancer Screening
Public Health Directorate
Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust
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