Supporting the uptake of cervical screening within our Somali and Turkish speaking communities

This year we have participated in a cancer screening project, led jointly by Diverse Communities Health Voice (DCHV) and the Islington GP Federation, which has supported the uptake of cervical screening in the Somali and Turkish-speaking communities. Four DCHV partners have taken part: Imece, Islington Somali Community, Jannaty, and Healthwatch Islington.

What we did

Participating staff and volunteers were trained as cancer champions in November 2023. Partners went on to host a series of health information workshops for Somali and Turkish-speaking women aged between 25 and 49. Women who attended these workshops who weren’t attending cervical screening appointments were invited to participate in one-to-one conversations with the cancer champions to discuss their questions and concerns. The champions also gathered feedback from participants to understand the barriers to attendance.

• We hosted 14 health information workshops attended by 208 women in total.
• 39 women participated in one-to-one conversations with our cancer champions

An example of the impact of this project

One participant, who is in her thirties, was hesitant to attend her screening appointment due to her close friend’s negative experience. This hesitation was compounded by her own experience of a difficult birth. She felt worried about attending a cervical screening. 

She was invited to a cervical screening workshop hosted by Islington Somali Community. She came along and shared her concerns with the group. Islington Somali Community’s cancer champion reassured her by describing what she could expect from her screening and what she could ask for during the appointment. The participant was also pleased to learn that Islington Somali Community now had a named nurse in the GP Federation who could support her if any issues arose. She is now planning to attend.

The impact of our cancer screening work more broadly

Our Diverse Communities Health Voice partners began collecting feedback on cancer screening services in 2022. After three years of engagement with residents on this topic, it is possible to see some shifts in attitude.  “I think people are learning and they are changing their attitudes towards cancer," reflected Yussuf Ahmed, Coordinator at Islington Somali Community.

"It was something like a taboo before. When they used to come before, they couldn’t even say the word cancer, they used to say in Somali 'the bad disease'. They are now openly saying the word cancer, which is a breakthrough. They are talking about it. They are thinking about it and they are taking action. So people are understanding now the need to act and take up screening.” 

What next?

1. Some women booked screening appointments after the workshops, some after the one-to-one conversations, but many more said they needed more time, needed to reflect on what they had heard. Most participants will need to hear these health messages many times. Many of the barriers are profound.  
2. Many participants still felt that they no longer needed to attend screening if they were divorced or their husbands had died. This specific issue should be addressed more prominently in future cervical screening messaging.