What's new – November 2023

14 November 2023

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What's new in November, with links to support, information and other items of interest.

W orld Pancreatic Cancer Day – 16 Nov
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Mont h
N ew national cancer plan launched
Ca ring through touch – new resource
Study: Body Appreciation in female cancer survivors
Enhanced Victorian Cancer Trials Link website launched
Survey: Engaging with patients through clinical researc h
Findings from the latest Cancer Nursing Workforce Sur vey

World Pancreatic Cancer Day – 16 Nov

World Pancreatic Cancer Day will be held on 16 November, during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

Our friends at the Pancare Foundation are working with other members of the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Alliance to Light Australia Purple. From the Big Banana to the MCG , iconic locations across Australia will light up their buildings purple to raise important awareness for this devastating disease.

See a full list of the locations set to light up purple on PanCare's website.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Although smoking is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, 1 in 3 Australian women diagnosed with the disease have never smoked.

As with most cancers, early detection is linked to better outcomes, so it is important that everyone knows the symptoms. If you have any concerns make sure to talk to your doctor.

New national cancer plan launched

The Australian Government has launched a new national cancer plan. This plan is designed to improve cancer outcomes for all Australians, and particularly for those groups whose health outcomes are poorest. Achieving equity in cancer outcomes will be a fundamental measure of success for the plan. This will align Australia with global calls to improve cancer outcomes for all people.

Find out more about the Australian Cancer Plan.

Caring through touch – new resource

Massage can help reduce symptoms such as stress, pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in those undergoing cancer treatment.

The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre has produced a new resource called Caring through touch. This video shares how to provide gentle massage to someone with cancer, using safe and simple massage techniques.

Watch the Caring through touch video.

Study: Body Appreciation in female cancer survivors

Researchers from Flinders University are looking for female cancer survivors 18 years and over to participate in a study comparing the impact of two writing interventions and a neutral writing control on body image and overall wellbeing.

Participants will spend up to 30-minutes writing, and will be guided through the writing exercise through the use of structured writing prompts.

Get more information or participate in this study.

Enhanced Victorian Cancer Trials Link website launched

The recently relaunched Victorian Cancer Trials Link connects people affected by cancer and their clinicians with information about current cancer clinical trials in Victoria, Australia.

It has a range of information and resources to help you understand how clinical trials work and allows you to easily search for current trials to discuss with your doctor.

Visit the Victorian Cancer Trials Link.

Survey: Engaging with patients through clinical research

CT:IQ and the VCCC Alliance are conducting the Beyond the Form project to better understand ongoing communication strategies between researchers and participants in clinical research.

They have created a survey seeking information from people working in Australian health and medical research. This survey asks about communication strategies that health professionals and researchers have used themselves, and/or think should be used by other researchers in the future. The results of this survey will contribute to the Beyond the Form project and may feed into future publications.

Find out more about Beyond the Form or complete the survey.