Understanding the experiences of underserved communities

What’s the project about?

We know that health inequalities can affect every aspect of someone’s experience of breast cancer. People from certain groups are less likely to have a positive experience of breast cancer treatment and support than others, and may have worse health outcomes long term.  

We’ve identified 4 groups who are more likely to experience health inequalities. These are:  

• Black women  
• Women from South Asian communities  
• People over 70  
• People from socio-economically disadvantaged communities

Our EDI services improvement project aims to understand what’s important to people from these groups, how we can best support them through breast cancer, and how we can improve our services to reach more people.  

As part of this, we’re running focus groups for people from these groups to help us understand what support and information they need in order to access our services.

Who can take part?

Cancer can affect any one of us. But there’s still so much more to do to make sure everyone is represented and gets the support they need. We’d love to hear from you if you have experience of breast cancer and are part of at least one of these groups:

• A Black woman
• A South Asian woman
• Aged 70 and over
• Someone who regularly struggles to afford essentials such as food, electricity or heating

And:

• Have received a primary or secondary diagnosis of breast cancer (particularly in the last 6 years)
• Have used NHS breast cancer services (like speaking to your GP about your concerns or diagnosis, or attending an appointment in the hospital)
• Have not used Breast Cancer Now's support services

Why do you want me to be involved?

By taking part, you’ll be helping us understand what works and what can be improved in terms of information, support and services for underserved communities. You’ll also be helping us improve access to our services fo these groups.

What will you ask me to do?

We’ll ask you to come to a focus group or a one-to-one discussion (online, by telephone or face-to-face) where you can tell us about your experiences. Your involvement and feedback will be kept confidential. Your name will not appear in the final report.

The focus group will last about 1 hour and 30 minutes, and the one to one interview will last around 45 minutes. We’ll make sure that it’s at a time that’s suitable for you. We'll give you a shopping voucher as a thank you for your time.

If you can’t come to a focus group or discussion, you can complete a survey instead if you prefer (on a paper form or online). If you do this, we’ll enter you into a prize draw for a £100 shopping voucher.