Talking About Cancer: Reducing Risk, Early Detection and Myth-busting

Talking About Cancer: Reducing Risk, Early Detection and Myth-busting is organized by FutureLearn.

How to talk to people about how to reduce the risk of cancer
There are a variety of things that can help to reduce people’s risk of cancer, such a not smoking and keeping a healthy weight. This course will help you to support people to understand what causes cancer and what healthy changes they could make to reduce their risk.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
• Summarise simple, reliable facts about cancer, prevention, early diagnosis and cancer screening.
• Engage those around you in effective conversations about cancer.
• Identify appropriate sources of support and information about cancer, and signpost people to them.
• Assess the barriers that can prevent people from taking positive action for their health or visiting the doctor, and engage them in a way that encourages them to take action.
• Develop a plan of action to help you talk about cancer.

What topics will you cover?
• Key facts and health messages about cancer prevention, the national cancer screening programmes and the importance of early diagnosis.
• How to talk about cancer and have conversations with others to help them take positive action.
• Identification of people’s possible barriers to making positive changes for their health or seeing a doctor.
• Communication methods that can help people overcome these barriers and avoid defensiveness and fear.
• Identifying how our own feelings can affect how we approach conversations.
• How to signpost people to the right places for cancer advice and support.
• Creating an action plan so that you can feel confident when talking about cancer.