The role of knowledge, primary care and community engagement to improve breast-screening access for Pakistani women in the United Kingdom: a secondary analysis of a qualitative study

Khattak, H. M., Woof, V. G., French, D. P., Donnelly, L. S., Ruane, H., Ulph, F., Qureshi, N., Khan, N., Evans, D. G. and Robb, K. A. (2023) The role of knowledge, primary care and community engagement to improve breast-screening access for Pakistani women in the United Kingdom: a secondary analysis of a qualitative study. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, (doi: 10.1177/13558196231155824) (PMID:37039238) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer incidence is rising among Pakistani women in the United Kingdom. However, uptake of breast screening remains low. This study aimed to improve access to breast screening for British-Pakistani women by exploring their knowledge of breast cancer and the role of primary care and community networks to support screening access amongst British-Pakistani women. Methods: We undertook a secondary qualitative analysis of 18 semi-structured interviews with British-Pakistani women from East Lancashire in the United Kingdom. Anonymized transcripts of the interviews were used for a thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified in the interviewees’ responses: (i) ‘Women’s knowledge of breasts and breast cancer’, which described how a cultural taboo exists around Pakistani women’s bodies and around breast cancer; (ii) ‘Role of primary care’, which detailed how General Practitioners can support informed decisions and offer a trusted and valued information source; (iii) ‘Community engagement’, which described the potential to disseminate breast-screening information through the whole community, including primary care providers, all family members and mosques. Conclusions: Our analysis suggested three main targets for future interventions to improve access to breast screening for British-Pakistani women: (i) co-produced strategies to increase knowledge of breasts and breast screening; (ii) greater collaboration with local General Practitioners to support women to make informed choices about screening; and (iii) community engagement involving General Practitioners and community leaders, to inform everyone – not just screening-age women – about breast cancer and screening.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: : DGE and DF are supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) BRC Manchester (Grant Reference Number 1215- 200074). The data collected for research for the primary analysis were funded by the National Institute for Health Research (Programme Grants for Applied Research, RP-PG-1214-200016).
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Robb, Professor Katie
• Authors: Khattak, H. M., Woof, V. G., French, D. P., Donnelly, L. S., Ruane, H., Ulph, F., Qureshi, N., Khan, N., Evans, D. G., and Robb, K. A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Journal Name: Journal of Health Services Research and Policy
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 1355-8196
• ISSN (Online): 1758-1060
• Published Online: 11 April 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Health Services Research and Policy 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License