South Asian men share experiences to support prostate cancer research

A recent community workshop brought together South Asian men in Bristol to talk openly about prostate cancer – a topic often described as taboo in their communities.

The event held at Wellspring Settlement near the University of Bristol’s Barton Hill micro-campus, was organised in collaboration with community partners CAAFI Health. It set out to raise awareness of prostate cancer, encourage conversations and gather feedback to inform future research.

It was funded through the University of Bristol’s Civic Connections award, funded centrally by Bristol Medical School. This funding was secured under the leadership of Dr Julia Wade, Senior Lecturer in Qualitative Health Science, and co-applicants Aiman Abbasi, Profs Athene Lane and Richard Martin, Drs Emma Turner and Shoba Dawson.

Creating a safe space

The workshop began with a talk from Richard Martin, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, an expert in prostate cancer epidemiology. He shared key facts about prostate cancer risk, screening and treatment, generating lots of questions and comments from those attending.

This was followed by group discussions, led by PhD student Aiman Abbasi, on how conversations about prostate cancer could be made easier within their communities. Aiman’s PhD is supervised by Athene Lane, Emma Turner, Julia Wade and Richard Martin, and is linked to Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) projects aimed at improving outcomes for South Asian men with prostate cancer.

One participant explained:

“It’s very much a taboo subject in our community.”

Others agreed but said that community-focused sessions like this helped them feel “more confident to talk freely” about sensitive issues.

Insights from the community

Discussions highlighted 3 key themes:

• Preferred context for talking about prostate cancer varied with individuals: while many valued group discussions, some preferred one-to-one conversations in GP surgeries. Creative ideas, such as wearing awareness badges to stimulate informal conversations about prostate cancer were also suggested.
• Preferred settings and timing: participants noted that community venues such as mosques and gurdwaras could be trusted spaces for health conversations. Suggestions were also made to hold future workshops on weekends to encourage greater attendance.
• Trusted sources of information – trust was important and community health ambassadors and GPs were identified as credible sources. Attendees explained that personal stories and experiences within families coupled with open communication play a vital role in raising awareness.

Looking ahead

The findings will help shape the recruitment approach for a qualitative study which forms part of Aiman’s PhD on prostate cancer among South Asian men. This includes decisions on whether to use community-based or primary-care based recruitment, and whether interviews should be face-to-face, by phone or in groups.

The Physical Activity for health in South Asian Men with Prostate Cancer (Pro-SAPA) trial is also underway. This aims to assess the feasibility of recruiting men of South Asian heritage with prostate cancer to a physical activity intervention, and whether they stick to the intervention. As part of this feasibility trial, Aiman will interview South Asian men with and without prostate cancer to understand their priorities and concerns.

Reflecting on the workshop, Dr Julia Wade said:

“We’re hugely grateful to Caafi Health and in particular, Zia Haque, one of their Health Ambassadors, who made this workshop such a success. Zia recruited our attendees, all of whom were very engaged in discussions. We couldn’t have run this event without his help.

“Thanks also to Bristol Medical School for funding these workshops and the ones we have planned, which will share findings from Aiman’s PhD.”

The workshop ended with a strong call by the participants for continued investment in community-led initiatives, along with suggestions for future events potentially including on-site blood testing. A similar workshop was conducted with Somali men in early September, with data from the discussions now being analysed.