A health creating approach to improving breast cancer outcomes in women of black African and black Caribbean origin or decent in Newham

Working via The Health Creation Alliance and with One Newham, I facilitated a workshop attended by the project sponsor Novartis and 20 individuals representing  the NHS, VCFSE sector and people with an interest in, or with lived experience of breast cancer, the ´Good to Great´ appreciative enquiry workshop provided an opportunity for all participants to explore, identify and prioritise the attributes of a ´Great´  programme that can improve breast cancer awareness – and presentation to healthcare professionals – among  black African and black Caribbean women aged 50 or under living in Newham, and how Newham was currently delivering against these.

Three of the priority areas that scored lower on current delivery were then explored to consider actions that could be taken to improve awareness and presentation:

·       Awareness raising in schools and colleges

·       Peer to peer education – delivered by breast cancer survivors, their carers or family members

·       Culturally sensitive messages, and materials in a range of languages and different formats – leaflets, posters, video, infographic – available in the community, supported by resources that support signposting to additional support and services

This resulted in the co-production of a number of proposed activities and provisional accountability for delivering these. These will be the subject of further discussion and refinement following which it is hoped the activities will be actioned