Māori men, 50yrs+ as a cohort, make up the majority of deaths to prostate cancer compared to any other ethnicity by a factor of 3-1. This cohort is also the most problematic to ‘engage’ with to educate about prostate cancer and its symptoms resulting in late presentation (with advanced prostate cancer) to their GP or hospital emergency departments. The Ministry of Health wanted to design a decision support tool that this cohort and other men could ‘relate’ too to learn about the cancer generally and symptoms they might be experiencing.
Joseph co-designed the decisioning ‘logic’ process with a focus group of prostate cancer specialists, GP’s and oncologists and target cohort men to develop Kupe: Prostate Cancer Decision Support Tool. The name was borrowed from Kupe, the early migration navigator who charted unknown seas to find Aotearoa. The analogy being - this too is the journey for men needing to chart their own course of symptom awareness and education.
