Researcher to lead £455k body image project supporting people with head and neck cancer

A UWE Bristol researcher has been awarded almost half a million pounds to lead a project to develop a body image programme for people living with and beyond head and neck cancer.

Dr Helena Lewis-Smith, Associate Professor of Psychology, has received £455,313 from the Medical Research Foundation to develop a psychosocial programme as part of a three-year project starting next month.

Head and neck cancer affects nearly one million people worldwide each year, including around 12,800 in the UK. Treatment often profoundly alters appearance and essential functions such as speech and swallowing, resulting in significant body image concerns.

Those living with and beyond head and neck cancer currently have limited access to tailored psychological support despite being a high-need group. Up to 89 per cent of individuals experience body image distress, which is linked to higher anxiety, depression, social withdrawal and poorer quality of life. Suicide risk is also elevated among this group compared with other cancer survivor groups.

The new psychosocial programme that will be developed during the project will be co-produced with individuals with lived experience, clinicians, and head and neck cancer support organisations.

Dr Lewis-Smith, an academic in the Centre for Appearance Research, will collaborate on the project with academics and clinicians from the University of Liverpool, Ulster University, and NHS trusts around the UK, as well as a group of experts by lived experience.

The project team will bring together existing evidence and insight from lived experience to identify the key drivers of body image concerns. This will inform the development of a new psychosocial programme designed to be meaningful, acceptable and relevant to patients.

The resulting body image programme has the potential to be a scalable, cost-effective model, extending tailored psychological support to a currently underserved group.

Dr Lewis-Smith said: “Body image distress after head and neck cancer can shape everything from whether someone feels able to eat out in public, to maintaining relationships, to leaving the house at all. Yet clinicians often avoid raising it, unsure how to help or where to refer, and body image simply isn't given much attention in head and neck cancer care - so many patients don't feel their own concerns are valid enough to raise. This project will finally give us a dedicated, evidence-based programme to offer.”