Closing the Cancer Care Gap
To mark World Cancer Day on the 4th February, Dr Suzanne Johnson, Social Responsibility lead from the Division of Cancer Sciences asked people from across the MCRC partnership how their research is helping to close the cancer care gap. In response, we’ve spotlighted work from three different areas of the MCRC partnership and how they are working to improve equity in cancer care and address health, social and global inequalities
Listening to patients insights and their lived experiences provide the essential understanding of the experience of having a health condition such as cancer. Importantly, it can help healthcare professionals, scientists or indeed educators to shape their practise to be more considerate, inclusive and empathic.
Dr Suzanne Johnson
Lecturer at The University of Manchester and Social Responsibility lead at the Division of Cancer Sciences
Cancer Care Equity
What do we mean by cancer care equity? Every person is entitled to access the services and education needed to take steps to prevent cancer, to detect cancer at the earliest possible stage, to receive appropriate treatment for their cancer and benefit from quality after care following that treatment.
The following examples from researchers covering the full cancer research spectrum highlight the importance of involving people in research, engaging with communities and working to deliver and equitable cancer care system.
Identifying Research Priorities to Serve Manchester's Under-Represented Communities
Rachel Hawkins and Hannah Turner Uaandja describe how they are working in collaboration with multiple community providers to identify the public's cancer research priorities. Members include: Healthy me Healthy Communities, Himmat, African Caribbean Care Group and the Wai Yin Society (1 min 30 secs)
Understanding Cancer Genomics on an International Scale
Prof. David Wedge describes how his team is working to understand more about the genomics of cancer on an international scale. We know cancer disproportionately affects different communities and David's team is working with communities in Nigeria and South Africa to gather cancer samples to understand the genomics of why certain communities are more at risk than others. (1 min 15 secs)
One thing which makes our master’s degree unique is the progressive curriculum, which is designed to equip those who would like to make a real difference in the vast field of oncology with the skills needed; whether that is establishing new screening initiatives in their home countries, developing biobanks for research or improving cancer care through empathic innovation.
Dr Suzanne Johnson
Transformative Oncology
