A Whitefield man with a learning disability is urging others with similar conditions to use free bowel cancer home testing kits.
Stephen Owen, 64, is hoping to encourage other people to use a free faecal immunochemical test kits (FIT), which can detect early signs of bowel cancer.
The kits can be used at home and the Learning Disability Flagging Project is helping those with learning disabilities as part of the national Bowel Cancer Screening Programme.
Stephen said: “My bowel cancer screening kit arrived through the post and my support worker helped me to understand the test.
“I needed help to use the kit, agreed to do it, signed a consent form and sent back the sample.”
Stephen said his results came back quickly and his support worker helped him understand them.
His test did not spot cancer but did find he had an infection and he is now having further treatment.
Stephen said it is important that people do the test, adding that he “wouldn’t have known how to do it without the help”.
He said: “Bowel screening is important, if you don’t have the test, they will not know if you have cancer.
"Always do the bowel screening sample and send it off. If you don’t understand, ask for information about the test.
“Easy read information is available, and you can read this with your support worker.”
Cancer screening improvement lead from the Pennine Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, Caroline Mattinson, said: “Our team helps and encourages the patient to do the FIT test.
“The project has had a positive outcome on the adults with a learning disability who have taken part.
“This is helping to reduce health inequalities and ensure that people with learning disabilities can access bowel cancer screening.”
The community learning disability teams are notified in advance when a patient with a learning disability in their care is due to be invited for their bowel screening kit.
They then help and support the patient to complete the test.
Stephen said he hopes that by sharing his experience, others will also be encouraged to do the test.
Nicky Bennett, a specialist nurse for the Bury community learning disability team, added: “It’s great to be working with cancer screening colleagues to make sure people with a learning disability are supported to spot the early signs of bowel cancer."
People aged 60 to 74 years who are registered with a GP practice and live in England are automatically sent a FIT kit every two years.
As part of plans to lower the age of people that receive the test to age 50 by 2025, 56-year-olds are sent the test kit and it is currently being rolled out to 58-year-olds.
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