Dr Rhea Harewood, Research Fellow at the CSPRG, was awarded funding to improve the involvement and engagement of London’s minority ethnic groups in cancer research. To achieve this, Rhea has been running community sessions around London with various representative groups. The sessions have been raising awareness in historically hard to reach communities about the causes of bowel cancer, and engaging people in discussions about future priorities for bowel cancer research.
Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in cancer research is an essential part of our work. It is vital to us that our academic research is aimed at meeting the needs and interests of our communities. It is particularly important for us to engage communities from minority ethnic backgrounds, as these groups are poorly represented and served in medical and health research.
Rhea was supported in this work by two grants from Imperial College London, the Department of Surgery and Cancer Seed Award, and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Seed Fund. These grants were developed in collaboration with Kelly Gleason, Cancer Research UK senior nurse, and a patient representative Bhavini Patel.
To begin her engagement work, Rhea connected with two community organisations, the Asian Women Cancer Group (AWCG), a network of cancer survivors, and The Healing Church of God in Christ (THCOGIC) community church group. Initial health information sessions with these groups focused on the causes, risk factors and diagnosis of bowel cancer, and offered opportunities for participants to ask questions and discuss their thoughts and experiences. Building on the relationships formed in these sessions, Rhea then co-organised PPIE workshops with interested members of these groups that aimed to identify which research topics were most important to their communities. Through a series of exercises using anonymous polls, community members shared their insights on Rhea’s research plans and how we can encourage PPIE in their communities.
Across both sessions, several common themes emerged. Participants consistently emphasised the importance of research into early-onset bowel cancer, the links between stress or mental health and cancer risk, and the need for studies that better reflect the experiences of minority ethnic communities. A focus on people with a family history of the disease also appeared as a shared priority.
Rhea also collaborated with the on a larger event that brought together cancer researchers from across Imperial to share their research with the EKTA Harrow community, a mental health support group comprised primarily of elderly Harrow residents. The session aimed to increase awareness of breast and prostate cancers, the most common cancers in women and men respectively. Researchers shared important information on cancer symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis and their research into each of these cancers.
Community involvement and engagement like these are key to making research more inclusive, relevant, and impactful. We're very grateful to all the groups who worked with us for their warm and enthusiastic contributions. If you would like to find out more about our PPIE work, visit Get Involved with Cancer Research.