Accessing Cancer Screening in Tower Hamlets Participatory Research Findings
2014
Tower Hamlets Public Health commissioned this PAR project to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers that prevent residents from accessing bowel, cervical, and breast cancer screening services.
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Don’t Want to Talk About It Accessing Cancer Screening in Tower Hamlets Participatory Research Findings Report
This project aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers preventing eligible residents in Tower Hamlets from accessing cancer screening and to identify solutions proposed by the local community. Building on previous interventions and social marketing campaigns that had successfully increased breast screening uptake, the project sought to explore why participation had plateaued and how engagement could be improved sustainably.
Our Approach
Participatory Action Research (PAR): Over 30 local volunteers were trained in PA techniques, enabling them to access the views of more than 400 residents in community settings across the borough.
Community Expertise: The ethos of the project placed local people as experts on their own lives, ensuring solutions were informed by lived experience.
Qualitative Research: Data was gathered on both known barriers and previously under-researched issues, providing rich insights to inform future interventions.
Key Findings and Recommendations
Motivating and engaging people to take up screening
Train local “community hubs” to provide accurate information and engage their networks.
Promote leadership through Mosques, Churches, and faith leaders.
Encourage intergenerational support, including educating young people to influence family behaviour.
Facilitate peer encouragement among friends and family.
Provide practical aids (e.g., surgical gloves with bowel screening kits).
Extend successful phone-based outreach models (e.g., Bosom Buddies) to more communities and screening types.
2. Building positive relationships with health professionals
Train professionals in effective interpersonal and behavioural skills.
Ensure interpretation services are accessible and widely known.
Build on GP cancer champion initiatives.
3. Improving awareness and accessibility
Provide targeted, multilingual information in community settings (clubs, hostels, libraries, cafes).
Use media campaigns, including TV, radio, and local press, highlighting high-profile cases to raise awareness.
Include visual instructions for screening kits and demonstrate their use to residents.
Impacts
Highlighted both immediate, low-resource interventions and longer-term actions requiring investment.
Emphasized community-led solutions with potential for high impact on sustainable improvements in screening uptake.
Strengthened collaboration between residents and health services.
“Whilst there are ample statistical data that identify the problem, to address the specific reasons why people do not access cancer screening requires the use of qualitative research methods. This project has therefore recruited community researchers through the Women’s Health and Family Services (WHFS), a community based advocacy group, and trained them in Participatory Action Research:”
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