Health and research literacy for Arabic-speaking people with cancer

Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Australian Cancer Trials: Empowering the Australian Arabic-Speaking Community through Collaborative Engagement and Trial Navigator Support

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This project is all about ensuring equitable access to cancer clinical trials in Australia. Initially, we have chosen to focus on improving the access and participation of Arabic-speaking people with cancer, since the Arabic-speaking community makes up a significant part of the population in the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD).

Funded by the Cancer Institute NSW, this project will utilise the existing bilingual community educator workforce and train them to be 'trial navigators'. These trial navigators will then be deployed into clinics in a pilot model to determine the feasibility of this approach.

The trial navigator training module will be co-designed with input from Arabic-speaking communities, consumers, clinicians, and researchers. Trial navigators will work with Arabic-speaking people with cancer who are thinking about taking part in a clinical trial.

The goal is for the trial navigator to provide information to people about cancer and clinical trials. This is so that they can make an informed choice about whether to take part in a clinical trial. The trial navigator will provide this information in Arabic or English, depending on each person's preference.

This project is led by Dr Abhijit Pal, a medical oncologist (SWSLHD), in collaboration with Cancer Symptom Trials (CST), SWSLHD Multicultural Services, and the Arab Council of Australia, among other institutions listed below. 

Funding

2023 Cancer Screening and Prevention and Cancer Control Grants (Cancer Institute NSW). Amount $49,248

Investigator team

Lead: Dr Abhijit Pal [opens external site]

CST: Dr Rayan Saleh Moussa

Liverpool Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Unit

  • Abhijit Pal (lead investigator)
  • Martin Hong
  • Udit Nindra
  • Wei Chua
  • Weng Ng
  • Megan Ford

SWSLHD Cancer Services

  • Sandra Avery
  • Karen Wong
  • Charbel Bejjani [opens external site]
  • Matthew Jennings (Liverpool Executive)

SWSLHD Multicultural Services

  • Michael Camit (Health Literacy Unit), part of Health Communication Research Group (UTS)
  • Christine Jeyachandran [opens external site]
  • Amin Gadalla
  • Iman Zakhary (Health Literacy Unit)

SPHERE/SWSLHD Researchers

  • Gemma McErlean
  • Bernadette Brady
  • Ben Smith
  • Verena Wu

Cancer Symptom Trials, UTS

  • Rayan Saleh Moussa

Consumer representation

  • Randa Kattan (Arab Council of Australia)
     

Key organisational collaborations

  • SWSLHD Medical Oncology Research Leads
  • SWSLHD Radiation Oncology Research Lead
  • SWSLHD Palliative Care Research Lead
  • SWSLHD Research Directorate
  • Ingham/UNSW/UOW/CINSW Academic team
  • CCSTG Project Manager
  • Cancer Symptom Trials, UTS
  • SWSLHD Multicultural Health Service
  • SPHERE (The Sydney Partnership of Health, Education, Research and Enterprise)
  • Arab Council Australia


 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.