Project details

Alzheimer’s & Dementia,Cognitive Impairment

A study to understand the needs of patients from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds who have or have had cancer, in order to improve their care (UNITY)

Participant type

Age: 18+,Looking For: Service Users,Looking For: Staff,Study Type: Interview

Key Documents

Overview

A study to understand the needs of patients from Black and Minority Ethnic
backgrounds who have or have had cancer, in order to improve their care.

GMMH is a Participant Identification Centre (PIC) for this study, meaning that we do not carry out the research. If you are interested in taking part in this study, please review the Key Documents and contact the lead researcher (details at the bottom of this page).

Summary

What is the study about?

Patients from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds with existing health conditions such as dementia, stroke, or cardiovascular disease (that can affect communication or thinking) are more likely to experience poorer outcomes if they develop cancer. Cancer services need to do more to provide the best treatment and care for such patients.

What are you trying to find out?

By speaking to patients, and their caregivers (family members or friends), from such groups we hope to understand their cancer treatment and care needs and wants. This will help to inform new ways to better support patients from such groups and improve cancer outcomes.

Who is it for?

We are keen to speak to patients:

from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds
who have recently been involved with cancer services
who have also been diagnosed with another health condition that can affect communication or thinking, like dementia, stroke, or cardiovascular disease

You’ve been chosen because your doctor identified you as someone from such a background who has recently received cancer treatment and/or care. Your viewpoint is very important to us.

What does taking part involve?

The study researcher, Dr Lena O’Connell, will get in touch and ask to interview you. Interviews will take place either face-to-face (either at home or somewhere in the community), by telephone, or video call, depending on which you would prefer. You will be invited to a consent conversation of around 20 minutes and to a one-off interview which will last approximately 60 minutes. Debrief following the study may take approximately 10 minutes. We expect the duration of participation to be approximately 90 minutes.

During the interview, the researcher will ask you about your views and experience of the treatment and care you have received since being diagnosed with cancer. If there are any questions you don’t want to answer just tell the researcher and she’ll move to the next topic. You can stop the interview at any point. The researcher will audio-record the interview, this is mandatory for participation.

In total, we will be asking about 20 patients and/or their caregivers (family members or friends) to take part in the UNITY study. There are only a few members of the study team, so we may not be able to interview everyone who expresses an interest in taking part in an interview.

Why is it important?

We hope this study will benefit future patients who received cancer treatment and care. We will use the results to inform how cancer treatment and care is delivered to patients from Black and Ethnic Minority backgrounds.

How can I find out more?

If you are interested in taking part in this study, or have questions for the research team, click the button below to email the research team:

Email the research team