Barbadian Men Increasingly Seeking Prostate Cancer Testing and Support, Reports Charity Officials

More Barbadian men are coming forward to get tested for prostate cancer, according to officials of a cancer-fighting charity.

After several years of pleading with men to come forward and have their prostates tested, the signs point to a drastic change in behaviour, said Cancer Support Services’ spokesman Antoine Williams as he spoke to reporters at the end of a two-day nurses’ training workshop at Coconut Court Beach Hotel.

“When we do our prostate testing sessions, we are seeing the increases,” he said. “We try to measure it based on the numbers. So, for example, we’ve had 100, 120, 140 [men coming forward]. The numbers are increasing, which is good, and again the age groups are also increasing, so there is that awareness. We are seeing men who are even coming in as groups, whether it’s with the church (or) community groups, so there is that definite increase.”

Williams added that more people are seeking the charity’s financial support, care and counselling services: “I would say that there is definitely an uptake.”

Reverend Anderson Kellman, one of the facilitators of the nurse enrichment programme, said more men are also coming forward to seek counselling to help them cope with their cancer diagnosis.

“There are still more women coming for counselling than men, but I’ve seen a significant number of men come for therapy, and that is a very heartwarming reality,” he said. “We as men sometimes… grin and bear to our own destruction, but yes, we are seeing a lot more men coming now seeking counselling…. I think that is a very good sign.”

Despite the encouraging signs, the lack of human resources available to deal effectively with the demand for services is still a concern, the officials said.

“I think people have said in the sessions that the issue of not having enough manpower that they desire is a major concern. Of course, people are more demanding now in terms of service. Once upon a time, there was a mystique in terms of doctors, the nurses and the medical people, but now people can go online and read stuff and therefore have different kinds of expectations. That also puts pressure in terms of the scarce resources that they have at the QEH.

“We are not going to push a panic button, but all we are simply saying is that the (patients) are more demanding now, therefore the idea of service becomes even more important,” Reverend Kellman said.

Seventeen nurses participated in this year’s enrichment programme which drew nursing officers, registered nurses and nursing assistants from all areas of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, from the Accident and Emergency Department to the antenatal clinic. The nurses were trained in teamwork, emotional intelligence and palliative care. (SB)