The project
In this project Dr Gary Mitchell and Caitlin McShane explore what it is like for adolescents when a parent has pancreatic cancer. This project seeks to hear directly from young people aged 10–24 who experienced having a parent with pancreatic cancer during their adolescence (10 – 19 years old). By listening to young people’s stories, we aim to understand their emotional, social and practical experiences. The study will identify what has helped and what has made things harder, so that services, charities and professionals can better support families at this difficult time.
What are you going to do?
They are inviting young people across the UK aged 10–24 who have had a parent diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during their adolescence to take part in a one‑to‑one interview. Interviews will take place online or in-person with the PhD researcher (Caitlin), at a time and place that suits them, and will last around 20–60 minutes. The length of the interview is completely led by the young person! Conversations will focus on their experiences of parental pancreatic cancer. There are no right or wrong answers, and all experiences are welcome!
Why is this research important?
Experiences of adolescents when their parent has pancreatic cancer are not well documented, and often overlooked in research. Adolescence is a critical time of growth and development, with its own challenges, so Caitlin and Gary want to understand what this time is like when a young person’s parent has pancreatic cancer. By documenting and learning about these experiences, they hope to better understand the challenges adolescents face and to identify ways to support adolescents and their families in these circumstances.
Who can take part/who is the opportunity aimed at?
You can take part if:
– You are 10 – 24 years old
– Your parent had pancreatic cancer when you were 10 – 19 years old
– You live in the United Kingdom
If you are interested as a young person, or as a parent of a young person, or if you know someone who might be interested – please feel free to reach out for more information.
No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
Next steps
If you would like to join the study, please contact Caitlin using this expression of interest form (LINK), if you would like to ask any questions related to this please contact the research team (research@pancreaticcancer.org.uk)
