Talking About Cancer: Reducing Risk, Early Detection and Mythbusting (FutureLearn)

Offered by Cancer Research UK,
Talking About Cancer: Reducing Risk, Early Detection and Mythbusting (FutureLearn)

Learn from experts at Cancer Research UK about how you could save lives by talking about cancer prevention and early detection. Learn how to talk about cancer risk reduction and spotting cancer early. 1 in 2 people will develop cancer in their lifetime. Talking about how to reduce the risk of cancer and the importance of early detection isn’t always easy, but it can make a real difference to peoples’ health. You might be worried you’ll say the wrong thing or that you simply don’t know enough about the subject. Our Cancer Research UK experts are here to help.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

On this course you’ll learn…

How to talk to people about how to reduce the risk of cancer
Support people to understand what causes cancer and what healthy changes they could make to reduce their risk

The importance of early detection of cancer
You’ll learn how to encourage people to know what’s normal for their body and visit their doctor if they notice any unusual changes.
The skills you gain on this course could also be helpful when talking to somebody affected by cancer.

What topics will you cover?

  • Key facts and health messages about cancer prevention, screening and early diagnosis, and how to explain them.
  • Confidence for having conversations about cancer that help others take positive action.
  • Identification of people’s possible barriers to making positive changes for their health or seeing a doctor.
  • Communication methods that can help people overcome these barriers and avoid defensiveness and fear.
  • Identifying how our own feelings can affect how we approach conversations.
  • Signposting people to the right places for advice and support.
  • Creating an action plan for talking about cancer.

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Summarise simple, reliable facts about cancer, prevention, early diagnosis and screening.
  • Engage those around you in effective conversations about cancer.
  • Identify appropriate sources of support and information, and signpost people to them.
  • Assess the barriers that can prevent people from taking positive action for their health or visiting the doctor, and engage them in a way that encourages them to take action.
  • Develop a plan of action for talking about cancer.

Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone who would like to improve their ability – personally or professionally – to have conversations about cancer and health.
It will be particularly useful for those with an interest in sharing the causes of cancer, the importance of early diagnosis and advocating for cancer prevention and cancer screening.
The course will be helpful professionally for those working or volunteering in the following healthcare areas: health advocacy, health promotion, care and support work, community health centres and services, GP surgeries, mental health, nursing, occupational therapy, oncology, osteopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, dentistry, public health, radiotherapy, sexual health, social work.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Protecting Health Data in the Modern Age: Getting to Grips with the GDPR (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Groningen

Protecting Health Data in the Modern Age: Getting to Grips with the GDPR (FutureLearn)

Learn how the GDPR helps to protect health data and get familiar with rights, obligations, risks and safeguards. Join this course to understand how health data is protected. People use technologies to track their fitness and health. Medical and health professionals use technologies to treat patients. These technologies generate a lot of health data. With technological developments in the health sector come questions of privacy.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Infant Nutrition: from Breastfeeding to Baby's First Solids (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Deakin University

Infant Nutrition: from Breastfeeding to Baby's First Solids (FutureLearn)

Learn what good infant nutrition looks like, how and what to feed a baby, and how to start weaning. Explore the principles of good nutrition in the first 12 months of a baby’s life. In this insightful course led by nutritional experts from Deakin University, you’ll trace the milestones in a baby’s first year of life to learn about the principles of good infant nutrition and how you can apply them. You’ll explore the nutritional requirements of young children, as well as why healthy food for babies is so essential.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Why Do We Age? The Molecular Mechanisms of Ageing (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Groningen,University Medical Center Groningen - UMCG

Why Do We Age? The Molecular Mechanisms of Ageing (FutureLearn)

Why do we age? Is there a limit to human lifespan? Can we prolong our lives? Find out with this free online course. Discover the science behind the ageing process. The “why” and “how” of ageing has puzzled mankind ever since it questioned its place in the universe.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Challenges in Antibiotic Resistance: Gram Negative Bacteria (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy - BSAC

Challenges in Antibiotic Resistance: Gram Negative Bacteria (FutureLearn)

This course by BSAC is for healthcare professionals managing infections. You will learn about Gram Negative Bacteria. Identify, diagnose and treat gram negative bacterial infections. Gram negative bacteria (GNB) are a group of bacteria that can cause infection and toxic reaction in patients, yet are difficult to differentiate and treat with antibiotics due to their structure.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Achieving Sustainable Development (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Trinity College Dublin

Achieving Sustainable Development (FutureLearn)

Explore the challenges of sustainable development. See the impact of UN Sustainable Development Goals on real people. Consider the impact that UN Sustainable Development Goals could have. Governments of the world have signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a UN initiative for international development. They are targets for improving the world by 2030, including: health, environment, education, and security. But will they have an impact on the lives of people?

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Introduction to Emergency Contraception (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Introduction to Emergency Contraception (FutureLearn)

Understand emergency contraception and the choices available with this course for people working in healthcare and related fields. Emergency contraception can be confusing, with different types available and public understanding sometimes limited. On this course you will master the basics of emergency contraception: learning about the different types of post-coital contraception, exploring clinical guideliness; and working out which type of contraception is appropriate in different situations.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Exercise Prescription for the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Trinity College Dublin

Exercise Prescription for the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (FutureLearn)

Learn how physical exercise can help patients including those with cardiovascular disease, mental health problems and cancer. In the last few decades physical exercise has become well established as a tool to prevent and treat disease. Perceptions within the healthcare sector of exercise and its prescription as a treatment have changed dramatically in recent years.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Digital Health for Cancer Management: Smart Health Technologies in Complex Diseases (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Taipei Medical University

Digital Health for Cancer Management: Smart Health Technologies in Complex Diseases (FutureLearn)

Learn how new digital health technologies are transforming cancer management with this course for healthcare professionals. Recent advances in cancer treatment and management have lead to people with cancer living longer than ever before, now healthcare must begin to consider how to help people with cancer live healthily. On this course you will explore and discuss how new digital health technologies, like wearables, social media and home sensors, are starting to transform the management of cancer.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Biochemistry: the Molecules of Life (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Biochemistry: the Molecules of Life (FutureLearn)

Explore the impact of biochemistry on bioenergy and health, discovering why graduates are in demand; with the Biochemical Society. Biochemistry brings together all of the sciences to study the chemical and physical processes that occur in living organisms. It truly is the science of life. As a scientific discipline in its own right, biochemistry has a major impact on all areas of the life sciences and biochemists are in high demand among employers.

Self Paced
3 Weeks