The Macmillan Cancer Support team at the Whittington Hospital in Islington have come up with an inventive new way to encourage men to talk about prostate cancer. A short film, called ‘The P Factor’, uses humorous and relatable stories to help take the embarrassment out of prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The film, co-created with Wake the Beast theatre, uses actors to speak the dialogue of cancer patients and aims to encourage more men to get tested for prostate cancer.
Tracey Palmer, Macmillan Information & Support Manager at Whittington Hospital, was part of the team who created the film.
Tracey: “We know that Black men in particular are less likely to seek support, and yet they are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, so we really wanted to reach them with this film.”
“There are still a lot of misconceptions, a lot of patients still think cancer always means end of life. Some say they would rather die of cancer than live if they were unable to perform sexually in the way they used to.”
“Those who did go ahead with the treatment were saying they were okay, but once they began talking to us and you dig a little deeper, you realise they’re not really okay.”
“Any cancer experience is difficult and lonely, however, it’s nearly always helpful to talk because there are other people who have gone through it.”
One prostate cancer patient, Errol McKellar, has also been helping the Whittington Hospital raise awareness. “You’re only alone when you don’t talk about it”, Errol says. “Cancer don’t care about your colour or your wealth.”
Errol started his own foundation – The Errol McKellar Foundation – to spread awareness of prostate cancer after his own diagnosis and treatment. Errol runs a garage in East London, and he started asking the men who went into his garage to go and speak to their GP about their prostate cancer risk and to ask for a type of blood test called a PSA test. If his customers went to get checked, Errol offered them a discount on their MOT.
After talking to Errol, 48 men got checked and as a result found out that they had prostate cancer. 28 of those men were from an African or Caribbean background. Sadly, 2 of the men Errol spoke to passed away. The youngest of these was just 36 and died six months after Errol had driven him to hospital for a PSA test. Errol is now campaigning for mobile buses to carry out PSA blood tests for men.
1 in 4 Black men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, double the 1 in 8 risk faced by all men.
The message from Macmillan is: if you’re Black, have a prostate and you’re over 45, speak to your GP about your risk of prostate cancer and ask about a PSA test.
If you do have prostate cancer and it’s caught early, there’s a good chance treatment could stop the cancer spreading.
To access information and support from Macmillan visit www.macmillan.org.uk, call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 or search online for Macmillan’s Online Community.
