Prostate cancer peer support groups – understanding your experiences & your needs

Tackle Prostate Cancer (TPC), the patient-led organisation for people living with prostate cancer  commissioned METRO Charity to conduct research about peer support groups in 2021. Focusing on the West Midlands, this pilot research is expanding with a national survey during 2023 to learn more about the experiences and needs of those living with prostate cancer who lead, use, or who want to access peer support. 

The aim of this research is to understand more about the full range of people who use peer support groups and better meet the needs of the diverse population living with prostate cancer in England and Wales. TPC also wants to reach those who may have found difficulties accessing peer support groups or who have encountered barriers for a range of reasons, including their identity and their protected characteristics (see Equality Act 2010). 

Two surveys have now been launched and will run for six weeks, with the deadline for submissions being Sunday 28 May at midnight. 

• • Group Member’s Survey– For anyone who is currently a member of a peer support group, or has ever attended a peer support group in the past, or sought to find a group that met your needs and couldn’t find one.

• • Group Leader’s Survey– To be completed by Group Leaders/Organisers. NB. If, as a Group Leader/organiser, you attend a group for your own support needs in addition to the group you lead, please complete both surveys.  

There are no right or wrong answers to the survey questions: We are interested in your perceptions, thoughts, and lived experiences.

The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, with options for expanding on your views and points if you wish to. 

Survey participants can choose to be entered into a prize draw, more information can be found at the bottom of this page and at the end of the survey. 

Who can take part? 

Members’ survey

• • People living with or affected by prostate cancer who have used TPC peer support groups 

• • People living with or affected by prostate cancer who have found barriers accessing groups,

• • People living with or affected by prostate cancer who have struggled to find a group that meets their identity needs (for example, age; culture; disability; racialized people; sexual orientation; gender identity)

• • Anyone living with or affected by prostate cancer who has struggled to find a suitable group

• • Those who care for or support somebody living with prostate cancer

• • Those who have previously cared or supported for somebody living with prostate cancer

Leaders’ survey 

• • Current prostate cancer peer support group leaders in TPC federation

• • Previous prostate cancer peer support group leaders in TPC federation 

How is the project being managed? 

This research has been commissioned by Tackle Prostate Cancer and is being delivered by METRO Charity.  The University of Greenwich is providing data analysis support as a sub-contractor.

All data will remain anonymous and will be handled in accordance with Tackle Prostate Cancer’s privacy policy and METRO’s privacy policy:

Privacy Policy – Tackle Prostate Cancer

Privacy policy | METRO Charity

Why have I been invited to take part?

You are currently or have previously been a member of a TPC peer support group, or a group leader, or have previously contacted TPC about attending group through a clinical referral. 

What are the benefits of taking part?

• • You can provide confidential feedback on your experience of using peer support groups. 

• • Your experiences can inform changes and improvements in peer support services. 

Possible risks

We are not aware of any risks this study may pose to you; however, you can contact us if you have any concerns about your participation in this survey: [email protected]

Confidentiality and Data Storage Information

After participation, you will be free to withdraw your data within 14-days of participation. To do so, you will be asked to enter a code by which your data can be identified. To withdraw your data, simply email us the request of withdraw along with the code: [email protected]

All information which is collected about you during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential. The survey data is being processed by METRO Charity, however TPC is the data controller. 

The results of this research may be published or reported, but your name will not be associated in any way with any published results. Data will only be made available to the research team directly involved in this study and is kept on password-protected electronic storage. Should you choose to provide your email address for the prize draw entry and/or to participate in future research, we will keep this data secure and will not make these available to anyone outside of the research team, and it will only be used for the purposes of this research. 

We will contact you in the future if you have indicated in providing your email address that you would be willing to take part in future studies

For any further queries, please contact [email protected]

For more information about Tackle Prostate Cancer, please visit our website: Tackle Prostate Cancer

The Surveys

To thank you for filling out this survey, at the end of the survey you will be invited to enter a prize draw for a £50 One4All Voucher. You will be asked to enter your email address which will be separated from your survey responses. We will randomly pick a winner once the deadline for submissions has passed.