Dr Joan Austoker
Education, informed choice and patient experience in cancer screening and early diagnosis
Dr Joan Austoker directs the Cancer Research UK Primary Care Education Research Group at the University of Oxford. Her team’s research is aimed at providing people with evidence-based information to understand more about cancer screening and early diagnosis, so that they can make informed choices.
A key area of her work involves developing and evaluating patient and primary care educational materials, leaflets and brochures, largely focused on breast, cervical, bowel and prostate cancers. For example she and her team have developed decision aids about bowel screening, and PSA testing for prostate cancer.
As well as this work, Dr Austoker’s group has developed a range of written information packs for health professionals, covering breast and cervical screening and family history of breast cancer. They have also put together a training programme to help health workers communicate better with people and anxious members of the public about breast cancer and breast awareness.
Additionally they are investigating the psychological effects of regular breast screening in younger women with a family history of the disease. And they have studied the importance of identifying early symptoms of ovarian and bowel cancer.
Dr Austoker is a leading figure in her field. Her work is vital in enabling people to understand more about cancer, in particular about screening and early diagnosis, and to make informed decisions about their health.
