Our Black Health Equity Strategy
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the UK. Despite big advances in early detection/prevention and treatments, and improved outcomes in recent decades, prostate cancer continues to disproportionately affect Black men.
Almost 1,600 Black men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Black men have a 1 in 4 lifetime risk of prostate cancer, compared to 1 in 8 White men and 1 in 12 Asian men. Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer at a younger age and to be diagnosed at a later stage. There are also huge disparities in treatment for Black men with prostate cancer.
Our three missions
Prostate Cancer UK is striving for a world where no man dies from prostate cancer. And we’ll leave no man behind. There is both a moral and urgent need to address the health equities that Black men experience when navigating prostate cancer.
Mission 1: Black men diagnosed early
Overview
To work towards this mission, we’ll develop a responsive, impactful national network. This network will be a model example of tackling health inequity through community partnerships.
We’ll invest in understanding why prostate cancer is so often diagnosed at a late stage in Black men and what can be done to change this, starting in the West Midlands. This investment will mean we can design a phased delivery model, which will find the best ways to create and support partnerships between communities, community organisations and Primary Care Networks.
Key strategic priorities and activities
We will:
- Launch and embed the Black Health Equity National Network – a new approach to improving national targeted engagement
- Introduce a pilot model of delivery for equitable outcomes for Black men.
In five years’ time, more Black men who have prostate cancer are being diagnosed at a curable stage.
Mission 2: Treatment disparity eradicated
Overview
To achieve this mission, we must expand our understanding of Black men’s clinical experiences throughout their treatment journey, and close the evidence gaps that currently exist.
We recognise that Black men have been reported to have early onset and aggressive disease, likely explained by genetic predisposition to aggressive disease. However, the outcomes of a prostate cancer diagnosis shouldn’t be worse for Black men because they don’t get the same access to treatment as White men.
While we recognise that genetic predisposition to prostate cancer may influence outcomes, there should be no disparity in access to treatment. Therefore, it is crucial that we close treatment gaps, by identifying the underlying reasons for these inequalities in treatment and develop an action plan to turn this insight into best practice.
Key strategic priorities and activities
We will:
- Increase our understanding of clinical practice for Black men by using data from the National Prostate Cancer Audit and Get Data Out
- Establish a working group to engage the NHS Trusts that most commonly treat Black men with prostate cancer. This will allow us to develop a pilot model that understands and responds to identified barriers to treatment equity.
In five years’ time, we want more Black men reporting feeling supported in making an informed decision about their treatment choice, thereby reducing the occurrence of treatment regret.
Mission 3: Support is personalised, culturally informed and improves quality of life
Overview
To deliver this mission, we need to make sure our existing and new support services (both delivered and commissioned) are culturally informed and personalised.
We’ll use what we know about Black men’s experiences when navigating prostate cancer to improve existing services and inform new services. This will help make sure we provide more Black men with the right support at the right time.
Key strategic priorities and activities
We will:
- Support the development and delivery of a bespoke peer-to-peer support service for Black men with prostate cancer
- Develop an end-to-end visualisation and critical review of a Black man’s journey through our in-house and commissioned support services.
In five years’ time, more Black men are using available prostate cancer support services because they feel that they are culturally sensitive, personalised, and improve their quality of life.
You can read our full Black Health Equity Strategy here.
