Key facts and health messages about cancer

People can be reluctant to talk about cancer because they don’t think they have enough information to start a conversation.

Some people may be concerned that they won’t know what to say or have the right answers to questions. Knowing key facts and health messages can help build up confidence for talking about cancer.

Watch Gill make some of the key facts and messages easy to understand. The video is 10 minutes long, so remember you can pause it as you see fit, and return to it anytime during the course. You can also download a transcript in the downloads section below so that you can refer back to information in the future.

Activity and discussion

• Choose one of the links below, from the Cancer Research UK website, and have a look. Afterwards, use the back button on your screen to return to the course:

  About Cancer

  Screening

  Causes of cancer and reducing risk

  Early Diagnosis

• What additional facts and health messages did you find that may be useful? And why?
• Please share your findings in the comments section.
• You can make a note of these links to refer back to and share with others if they ask you a question you can’t answer, to encourage them to seek information themselves.
• Don’t forget you can ‘like’ others’ ideas and comments, and choose who to follow.

Optional activity

• If you are in the UK, you may want to try the local statistics tool on the Cancer Research UK website and find out what is happening in your area.
• Does anything surprise you? Share what you have learned by using the comments section.

What’s next?

In the next step we will listen to a conversation Anita has with her friends about cancer. See which myths and facts you can spot.