Welcome to your Health & Wellbeing Learning Hub
Increasing Cancer awareness & supporting you to live a healthy lifestyle & reduce your cancer risk
This hub has been designed with you in mind. It provides you with access to information on the common cancers in NI, to learn about the risk factors and the signs and symptoms of the common cancers affecting people in NI. You can learn about self-examination techniques, the benefits of screening programmes and ways to reduce your risk of developing cancer.
But there’s more… In the hub you can access information on healthy living: on diet/nutrition, on physical activity and exercise, on managing stress, or how to book our Health Improvement, Breast Screening, Skin Cancer Detection or Support Services.
This is your health and wellbeing learning hub, here when you need it.
Topics
Here you can find Sessions on cancer awareness, healthy living to help reduce your cancer risk and ways to help manage stress.
Cancer Awareness
Our Cancer Awareness topic provide you with access to information, such as common cancer symptoms, self-examination techniques and information on cancer screening programmes, to help increase your knowledge of common cancers and help understand how to reduce your cancer risk.
Healthy Living
Designed to enhance knowledge of how healthy lifestyle choices reduce cancer risk and other health conditions. This topic includes information on the dangers of smoking, the impact of alcohol, importance of healthy eating, how to stay safe in the sun, benefits of exercise and tips on stress management.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
This topic will give you access to information on the importance of mental health and wellbeing, what they actual mean, factors that can impact them and provide useful tips and information on ways to help improve and maintain mental health and wellbeing.
The Importance of Sleep
Most people never think about sleep and why it’s so important. In this topic, you will learn about why sleep is so important, how it impacts on how our bodies function, sleep cycles, the circadian rhythm and what can interrupt our sleep patterns.
How We Help
Action Cancer provides prevention, detection and support in NI. Whether you have been diagnosed with cancer or not, are just thinking about getting healthy or want to improve your wellbeing, we can support you along the way. Through health checks, health improvement services, digital breast screening, skin cancer detection and support and therapeutic services, we help save lives and support people across Northern Ireland.
We are only able to do our work with your support, Thank you.
Health Checks
Available to men and & women over 18 years of age. Health checks are available in Action Cancer House, Belfast, on the Big Bus travelling across NI, or we can bring them to your workplace.
A health check is a 20 minute appointment that offers 4 tests;
Blood Pressure
measures how strongly blood presses against the walls of your arteries as it is pumped around the body by your heart. If this pressure is too high it puts a strain on your arteries and your heart which makes it more likely that you will suffer a heart attack, stroke or kidney disease.
Cholesterol
a single sample of blood from the individual’s finger is used to measure total cholesterol, HDL (good cholesterol) and cholesterol ratio. It is important to have your cholesterol monitored as high cholesterol increases your risk of serious health conditions such as heart attack and stroke.
Glucose
a single sample of blood from the individual’s finger is used to measure blood glucose, which can indicate risk of Diabetes.
Body Composition
Carried out in the form of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). These professional scales measure weight, body fat %, fat mass, muscle mass, total body water %, metabolic age, basal metabolic rate (BMR) and visceral fat (fat which gathers around internal organs).
Step into Action
Building Readiness to Change
Action Cancer offer 1 to 1 Health and Wellbeing sessions to help you achieve your healthy lifestyle.
Available face to face (Belfast only) or video call for anywhere in Northern Ireland.
This motivational support service will help you develop your own personal change plan, supporting you to make small changes, with big impacts.
How it works
Up to six 1 to 1 sessions with a highlight qualified health and well-being coach
Behavioural change and self-compassion techniques to help you flourish
A safe, non-judgemental and encouraging space (face to face or video call)
Supporting resources
Skin Cancer Detection
Our Skin Cancer Detection service aims to find skin cancers early. It is not a mole mapping service. This service is for people who have a concern about a changing mole/lesion. Our clinical nurse specialists examine any new or changing/non-healing moles or lesions you may have.
To improve accuracy our specialised nurses will examine the mole/lesion with a Dermatoscope which enables the practitioner to examine deeper layers of the skin that can’t be seen with the naked eye.
Breast Screening
Breast Screening aims to find cancers early, it uses an x-ray called a mammogram which can find very small cancers before they have caused any symptoms or can be felt. The NHS invites woman aged 50-70 for Breast Screening every 3 years.
Action Cancer is the only charity in the UK and Ireland to offer breast screening to women aged 40 – 49 and 70 plus who fall outside the NHS age range.
Therapeutic Services
Our services are free to any child or adult impacted by cancer at any time in the cancer journey.
Services can be accessed from Action Cancer House in Belfast or regionally from 15 locations throughout Northern Ireland.
Our Services can help deal with the physical and emotional impacts of cancer e.g. pain, restrictions, fatigue, sleeplessness, anxiety/fear and our Self Care section provides useful tools that can help you cope at home.
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