Available data suggested that preoperative psychological prehabilitation may have a role for cancer patients undergoing surgery. Further evidence is needed to evaluate its role.

Summary Five focus groups (i.e. small discussion groups consisting of service users) were held within a variety of specialized services for people with learning disabilities. The aim of these focus groups was to determine which leisure opportunities young people and adults (≥ 16 years) with a mild/moderate learning disability currently accessed, which activities they would wish to access and the perceived barriers to leisure access. It was found that participants undertook a wide variety of community‐based leisure pursuits. Many of these activities took place in day centre time, as opposed to genuine leisure time. A range of activities which participants would wish to try in the future were identified. However, there were a number of perceived barriers which would make it difficult to access these opportunities. All five groups identified these barriers as being a lack of transport and carer/friend support. This is in line with previous research. Only two out of the five groups saw money as a barrier to accessing leisure opportunities.

The study purpose was to examine self-management (SM) use among cancer survivors; and to explore variations in uptake of SM in survivorship and whether these differed in relation to age, income, gender, ethnicity, cancer type and treatment type. This is an important area for exploration as SM utilisation has the potential to impact on the health status, health behaviours and quality of life (QoL) of cancer survivors. A postal survey was conducted among 445 cancer survivors identified from a hospital in the West Midlands, UK. Demographic data were collected and respondents were asked to identify which practices across six SM categories - diet, exercise, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), psychological therapies, support groups and spirituality/religion - they had used (if any). The findings indicate that the large majority (91%) had used some form of SM after their cancer treatment. Exercise (84%) and diet (56%) were the most popular SM interventions for cancer survivors and socio-demographic and cancer-related factors were associated with SM uptake. These findings can form the basis for designing and implementing appropriate SM interventions aimed at improving the health, well-being and QoL of cancer survivors.

A discursive psychology analysis of emotional support for men with colorectal cancer Abstract Recent research into both masculinity and health, and the provision of social support for people with cancer has focussed upon the variations that may underlie broad assumptions about masculine health behaviour. The research reported here pursues this interest in variation by addressing the discursive properties of talk about emotional support, by men with colorectal cancer -an understudied group in the social support and cancer literature.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight men with colorectal cancer, and the transcripts analysed using an intensive discursive psychology approach. From this analysis two contrasting approaches to this group of men's framing of emotional support in the context of cancer are described. First, talk about cancer was positioned as incompatible with preferred masculine identities. Second, social contact that affirms personal relationships was given value, subject to constraints arising from discourses concerning appropriate emotional expression. These results are discussed with reference to both the extant research literature on masculinity and health, and their clinical implications, particularly the advice on social support given to older male cancer patients, their families and friends.