Key facts
Area: Northern Ireland
Grant recipient: Cancer Focus Northern Ireland
Project: Well Aware
Programme: Reaching Out - Connecting Older People
Date of award: June 2012
Amount awarded: £475,938
A Northern Ireland project is striving to reduce the level of late diagnosis of cancer among older people
Cancer Focus Northern Ireland received a grant of £475,938 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Out: Connecting Older People programme to run a five year project which will raise awareness of early signs and symptoms of cancer, encourage the uptake of screening and promote healthier lifestyles.
Cancer Focus will work in partnership with Oaklee Homes Group to design and deliver an information programme targeting older people at risk of social isolation, particularly those living in rural areas.
‘Well Aware’ sessions will provide an opportunity for residents to socialise together and will offer basic health checks, with older people encouraged to set manageable goals for themselves, for example, increasing the amount of exercise they do.
Roisin Foster, Chief Executive of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, said a high number of older people who die of cancer in hospital have only recently been diagnosed. “We want to raise awareness without raising anxiety,” she said.
“Sometimes the signs of cancer are masked by other symptoms of getting older but things like extreme weight loss, lumps or pain could be an indication of cancer and should be checked by a doctor.
“This is all about empowering older people to take control. They often feel they don’t want to bother the doctor, or that the health service is for young people. We want people to realise that there are things they should go to the doctor about.”
Roisin said the project would work with families and carers to help them spot signs of cancer, while older people will be trained as peer educators.
“We cannot wipe cancer out, but we can help people to lower their risk. An extra 10 years at 60 is just as important as an extra 10 years at 16. Every year of quality life is sacred and that is the driving force behind this project,” she said.
Bill Jeffrey, 78, an Oaklee tenant in Belfast, was diagnosed with bowel cancer six years ago. He had chemotherapy and now has a colostomy bag.
Bill believes the cancer would have killed him if he had not gone to his GP when he did. Instead, he is still enjoying life to the full. “I am an actor, and am on radio chat shows a couple of times a month and I am also a literary agent representing 40 Northern Ireland authors. ” he said.
“I think when you get older you don’t take symptoms seriously. You don’t want to bother people, or you think it will be alright, but these things don’t just get alright. It is really important to speak to a relative or a doctor and get checked out.