Cancer screening for people experiencing homelessness
The NHS North Central London Cancer Alliance has developed a cancer screening campaign, Your Health First, for people experiencing homelessness (PEH). The aim is to increase awareness of the three national cancer screening programmes (bowel, breast, cervical), the importance of screening and how to participate. We also want to ensure anyone not registered with a GP can do so if they can provide an address where their screening invitations could be sent. We are also reminding people to make sure their contact details are up to date so they can continue to be invited.
The campaign is part of a wider project to tackle the low uptake rate among people experiencing homelessness in North Central London.
Cancer screening awareness sessions have been run for key workers to equip them with more information to help their clients. Reasonable adjustments are being trialled to accommodate the specific needs of people experiencing homelessness. These include screening services receiving trauma-informed practice training, flexibility with appointment times and pre-test support.
Read the evaluation report on the project by Homeless Link.
Cancer screening explained in three simple steps
Information booklets
We have worked with Groundswell, a homelessness charity, to produce booklets about cancer screening, especially for people experiencing homelessness.
These booklets are also available in 15 other languages and can be found on our smallc website.
Resources
Go to our campaign resources page to download posters for use in your locations.
