Revisiting Candidacy: What might it offer cancer prevention?

Batchelor, S., Miller, E. R., Lunnay, B., Macdonald, S. and Ward, P. R. (2021) Revisiting Candidacy: What might it offer cancer prevention? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10157. (doi: 10.3390/ijerph181910157) (PMID:34639459) (PMCID:PMC8508007)

Abstract

The notion of candidacy emerged three decades ago through Davison and colleagues’ exploration of people’s understanding of the causes of coronary heart disease. Candidacy was a mechanism to estimate one’s own or others risk of disease informed by their lay epidemiology. It could predict who would develop illness or explain why someone succumbed to it. Candidacy’s predictive ability, however, was fallible, and it was from this perspective that the public’s reticence to adhere to prevention messages could be explained, as ultimately anybody could be ‘at-risk’. This work continues to resonate in health research, with over 700 citations of Davison’s Candidacy paper. Less explored however, is the candidacy framework in its entirety in other illness spheres, where prevention efforts could potentially impact health outcomes. This paper revisits the candidacy framework to reconsider it use within prevention. In doing so, candidacy within coronary heart disease, suicide prevention, diabetes, and cancer will be examined, and key components of candidacy and how people negotiate their candidacy within differing disease contexts will be uncovered. The applicability of candidacy to address modifiable breast cancer risk factors or cancer prevention more broadly will be considered, as will the implications for public health policy.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP190103434).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Macdonald, Professor Sara

Creator Roles

Macdonald, S.: Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Batchelor, S., Miller, E. R., Lunnay, B., Macdonald, S., and Ward, P. R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Research Group: General Practice & Primary Care
• Journal Name: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Journal Abbr.: Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1661-7827
• ISSN (Online): 1660-4601
• Published Online: 27 September 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 by the authors
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(19):10157
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence