Acceptability and accessibility of using peer-led WhatsApp group for sharing prostate cancer risk information: protocol for a pilot study for proof of concept Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed tumour in men and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths ​worldwide​. Black men and those with a family history of prostate cancer are at the highest risk, yet diagnosis rates among black men remain low. Previous research in Wales has shown that for black men, sharing prostate cancer risk information amongst their community groups could increase awareness, with the potential for early detection and diagnosis.​​ Aims: This pilot study will evaluate the acceptability and accessibility of a novel peer-led WhatsApp community as an intervention to disseminate prostate cancer risk information. Method: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design will be used with up to fifty participants. Guided by two public contributors (PCo’s), participants are being recruited amongst the friendship groups of the PCo’s and invited to a WhatsApp group to view risk messages. Quantitative data will be collected using a survey based on the Sekhon Theoretical Framework of Acceptability and the EHeals health literacy scale. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with up to twenty purposively sampled participants from the WhatsApp group to further explore survey responses. Accessibility data will be gathered using a unique study URL to track the proportion of participants accessing the Prostate Cancer UK Risk Checker, and by evaluating the privacy and security features of WhatsApp. We will present the protocol of our novel approach to sharing prostate cancer risk information and the methods to investigate the accessibility and acceptability of sharing cancer risk information in this way.