Development and validation of a blood cancer awareness measure

Improving our understanding of public awareness of cancer.

Start date

01 February 2021

End date

31 January 2023

Overview

Cancer Awareness Measures help to monitor public awareness of cancer and can help us understand barriers and enablers to seeking medical help. Despite challenges with diagnosing blood cancers early, they’ve received less attention than other cancers. In response, Blood Cancer UK funded work to develop and validate a blood cancer awareness measure (Blood-CAM).

Aims and objectives

  • To develop and validate a blood-specific version of the Cancer Awareness Measure (Blood-CAM) 
  • To assess the level of blood cancer symptom awareness in the general population using the Blood-CAM
  • To explore the association between patient factors (e.g. patient empowerment) and outcomes of the Blood-CAM, including blood cancer awareness and barriers to medical help-seeking.

Funding amount

£78,000

Funder

Team

Outputs

Publications

Whitaker, K.L, Boswell, L., Russell, .J, Black, G.B, Harris, J. The relationship between patient enablement and help-seeking in the context of blood cancer symptomsPsychooncology. 2023; 1- 8. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.6170

Black, G. B., Boswell, L., Harris, J., & Whitaker, K. L. (2023) What causes delays in diagnosing blood cancers? A rapid review of the evidence. Primary Health Care Research & Development., 24, E26. doi:10.1017/S1463423623000129

Boswell. L., Harris. J., Ip. A., Russell. J., Black. G., Whitaker. K. L (2023). Assessing awareness of blood cancer symptoms and barriers to symptomatic presentation: measure development and results from a population survey in the UK. BMC Cancer 23, 633, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-11149-x

Resources

Blood Cancer Awareness Measure (Blood CAM)

The Blood CAM seeks to increase and monitor public awareness of blood cancer and help us understand barriers and enablers to seeking medical help.

How to access the Blood CAM

The Blood CAM is free to use but we ask you to have regard to the following conditions of their use:

  1. The Blood CAM is intended as an online questionnaire. It should only be administered electronically using a survey sampling company or an online survey tool.
  2. Do not distribute this resource to anyone else – if anyone asks for a copy please direct them to this web page so they can download them.
  3. If you use this resource or any part it, we would be grateful if you would please:
    1. Acknowledge the authorship team.
    2. Send copies of any reports/papers that are produced to Professor Katriina Whitaker at k.whitaker@surrey.ac.uk.
    3. Let us have any comments/suggestions that you feel might improve this resource so that your experience can be incorporated into subsequent updates.

Download the Blood CAM (PDF)

Research groups and centres

Our research is supported by research groups and centres of excellence.

Cancer research cluster

Research themes

Find out more about our research at Surrey: