Professor Nick Hulbert-Williams
Edge Hill University
Awarded: £59,985
Funded in collaboration with GIST Cancer UK
The challenge
The emotional and psychological effects of cancer, especially a rare cancer like sarcoma, can be just as difficult to cope with as the physical side effects of treatment. Research has shown that psychological support can help, but very little of this research has focused on people with sarcoma.
In discussions with people with lived experience of sarcoma, they highlighted that the ‘Finding My Way UK’ online support programme, which has been shown to help people with other cancers, could be helpful for them. However, the programme needs to be adapted to better reflect the unique experiences and needs of people affected by sarcoma.
How will this project tackle this challenge?
In this project, the team will give healthcare professionals who support people with sarcoma access to the Finding My Way UK website. The healthcare professionals will review the content and give feedback to help the team understand how it should be improved for people with sarcoma.
A separate study underway will also get feedback from interviews with people with sarcoma. These sets of feedback will be combined to help guide the changes to the programme.
The team will update and tailor the programme so that it speaks directly to the emotional and mental health needs of people affected by sarcoma.
What this means for people affected by sarcoma
The project will lead to a tailored online support programme designed specifically to help people with sarcoma cope with the psychological impact of their diagnosis and treatment.
Although a full clinical trial will be needed before the programme can be widely offered, this project takes the important first step by ensuring the programme is relevant, useful, and safe for sarcoma patients.
