Advancing racial health equity – the Prostate Cancer UK experience

What do we mean when we talk about ‘advancing racial or Black health equity’ and why did Prostate Cancer UK recruit an Associate Director to spearhead this work?

Advancing racial health equity is a critical and collective responsibility that requires the concerted efforts of us as individuals, communities, organisations like Prostate Cancer UK as well as policymakers. It goes beyond addressing disparities in healthcare access and treatment; it encompasses dismantling systemic barriers that contribute to unequal health outcomes among different racial and ethnic groups. We know we can’t do this alone, but we can certainly invest heavily both financially and strategically in this unique cohort of men who are so profoundly impacted by prostate cancer.

Intention and shared ownership

We recognised that organisational accountability was and is a crucial component to moving us in the right direction and this work at Prostate Cancer UK will continue to be everyone’s responsibility and a core part of our strategy. The ‘success’ of this role is not based purely on the efforts of the person in post but through a commitment from all of us to continue to identify and rectify any implicit biases that may exist within our internal systems and those we see in the NHS.  

Through investing in additional health equity roles we have quickly advanced our work with grassroots initiatives, community organisations, and local leaders, such as those who are represented in our Black Men’s Health Advisory Group, so they can advocate for us across our work as well as help us deliver our risk messages to Black men. We have also developed powerful partnerships such as our ongoing work with Movember and a recent collaboration with the MOBO awards, so that we continue to find new ways to learn from and work with the Black community.

Working with the NHS to improve the experience of Black men

We are making progress towards our ambition to be legitimate advocates for Black men, and through our health improvement work with the NHS, have continued to create a more equitable system for Black men in prostate cancer. But we are well aware that even if we bring about some of the policy changes we hope to see or even if we get a targeted screening programme for this group of men at highest risk of the disease, we know that they will still face barriers to accessing the NHS due to a combination of social, economic, and systemic factors; structural racism, socioeconomic disparities, language barriers, cultural competency within the NHS, geographical disparities, mistrust in the NHS, health education gaps and implicit bias within the predominantly white workforce. There is so much work that needs to be done, work that often extends outside of our remit, but we are committed to delivering what we can that is within our gift to change.

Why embedding health equity into your mission is vital

This work is hard and is never done, so we will stay committed to keeping our focus and intention towards advancing racial health equity. We know we still have so much work to do to gain and sustain the trust of the Black community and whilst bringing in specific Black Health Equity roles isn’t a ‘fix’ for these challenges, we still believe it has been an incredibly powerful first step for us to take alongside the Black community.

So my challenge to you is to understand the group most impacted by your work and identify the first step you can take that will move us towards a more equitable society.

Biography

Chiara is the Director of Health Services, Equity and Improvement at Prostate Cancer UK. She oversees the charity activity for direct services to men, their families and the clinical community. Her accountability sits across NHS clinical education, health information, policy and health influencing, peer support, PPIE, Black health equity, clinical helpline and cancer data specialists. She is a charity media spokesperson and safeguarding lead.

Chiara is a Non-Executive Director on the board at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust where she is Chair of Audit Committee and a member of both the Resources Committee and Research and Innovation committee. She is also a clinical trustee for a children’s cancer charity. Before taking on leadership roles in the third sector, Chiara was a specialist physiotherapist in cancer and palliative care, working at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London and has worked in cancer for over two decades.