2019 participants
Isabella Davies
My project is focused on lifestyle advice given to childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) at their yearly long-term-follow-up appointments, which impacts on their quality of life. Due to the aggressive nature of cancer treatment, their risk of developing health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, in the near future is greatly increased despite their young age. It is therefore recommended that survivors receive good quality lifestyle advice. However, it is not clear what survivors think about receiving lifestyle advice at the clinic and whether they feel they even need it. The project aims to interview CCSs, discussing their views and experiences of receiving advice, as well as exploring their need for it. The project has allowed insight into their preferences on how this advice can be given effectively. Ultimately, this should begin to give us a better understanding of how healthcare professionals should approach health education of this patient group.
Funding source: Newcastle University
Project supervisors: Dr Morven Brown, Professor Roderick Skinner and Professor Linda Sharp