The Improvement Foundation, 57 Spring Gardens, Manchester, UK.
Br J Cancer. 2009 Dec 3;101 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S49-54. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605390.
Premature deaths from cancer affect deprived communities disproportionately. The Department of Health has funded a programme in 19 Spearhead PCTs, delivered by the Improvement Foundation, to promote the early presentation and diagnosis of breast, bowel and lung cancers, with the ultimate intention of improving outcomes.
The programme uses improvement methodology and is a unique approach involving local people working in partnership in their communities to raise awareness of cancer symptoms and promote early presentation. The teams work with primary care, other statutory organisations and with the voluntary sector. The specific contribution of the local people has been in the identification of hard-to-reach groups and the tailoring of effective health messages.
Interim results show an increase in the number of urgent 2-week referrals and the proportion of new cancer cases diagnosed through the urgent 2-week referral route (from 43% to 51%) for all three cancers. These results were statistically significant for the bowel cancer and lung cancer pathways. There was also an increase in the proportion with no spread at the time of diagnosis for bowel cancer (38-43%) and breast cancer (41-44.5%), but these results did not reach statistical significance.
This programme, helping community volunteers to lead work on raising awareness and promotion of earlier presentation of cancer symptoms in partnership with primary care and other professionals, is delivering positive early results.
癌症导致的过早死亡对贫困社区的影响不成比例。卫生部已在 19 个 Spearhead PCT 地区资助了一项由改进基金会实施的计划，旨在促进乳腺癌、肠癌和肺癌的早期发现和诊断，最终目的是改善结果。
该计划采用改进方法，是一种独特的方法，涉及当地人民在社区中合作，提高对癌症症状的认识并促进早期就诊。团队与初级保健、其他法定组织和志愿部门合作。当地人民的具体贡献在于确定难以接触的群体，并制定有效的健康信息。
中期结果显示，所有三种癌症的紧急 2 周转诊人数以及通过紧急 2 周转诊途径诊断的新癌症病例比例均有所增加（从 43%增加到 51%）。这些结果在肠癌和肺癌途径中具有统计学意义。肠癌（38-43%）和乳腺癌（41-44.5%）的诊断时无扩散比例也有所增加，但这些结果没有达到统计学意义。
该计划帮助社区志愿者与初级保健和其他专业人员合作，开展提高认识和促进癌症症状早期就诊的工作，取得了积极的早期成果。
