Targeted cervical screening campaign sees increased testing
Lesbian and Gay Foundation logo
The University of Salford has been working with the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) to evaluate the attitudes, experiences and uptake of cervical screening in the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) women's community of the North West.
The Lesbian & Gay Foundation's (LGF) 'Are You Ready for Your Screen Test?' campaign published its findings at today's Cervical Screening Seminar in Manchester.
The findings are the result of a 12 month project (incorporating a nine month awareness raising campaign) - funded by the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, and in partnership with the University of Salford.
Are You Ready for Your Screen Test? was launched in October 2010 to help dispel myths around lesbian and bisexual women accessing cervical screening, and raise awareness that lesbian and bisexual women do need regular cervical screening tests.
During the project, the research team, which included Professor Ben Light and Dr Paula Ormandy from the University, spoke to almost 1,000 lesbian and bisexual women living in the North West, across two surveys which were carried out both before and after the awareness raising campaign.
The project consisted of an awareness raising campaign involving print and social media materials and outreach work. Research was conducted both before and following this campaign, in order to better understand the experiences and behaviours of LGB women, and to measure the success of the campaign itself.
Professor Ben Light said: "Paula and I are delighted to have engaged with a project that has had demonstrable positive impact on people's health and well being. It is also great to be involved a project such as this which allows us to better understand the potentials for digital media, service-user engagement and intervention evaluation."
The findings have repercussions nationally - the awareness raising campaign saw an increase in women accessing cervical screening services, and 99% of respondents supported running this or a similar targeted campaign across the UK.
Key Findings:
Prior to the campaign just 49% of respondents of an eligible age (25-64) had been for a cervical screening test within NHS recommended time scales (within three years for women aged 25-49, and within five years women aged 50-64). Survey One also showed 70.5% of respondents of an eligible age had been screened within the past five years.
- Following the campaign, 73% of women of an eligible age had been for a cervical screening test within NHS recommended time scales
- Following the campaign, 79% of women of an eligible age had been screened within the past five years, which is in line with NHS data for the general population
- 51% of women at an eligible screening age reported some form of positive behaviour change as a result of the campaign
- 96% felt that the campaign was effective
- 93% of participants think more needs to be done to train health professionals in the needs of (LGB) women relating to cervical screening.
Annie Emery, Programme Manager at The LGF commented: "The findings of the report highlight the overwhelming need for, and benefit of, targeted campaigns like Are You Ready for Your Screen Test? on a wider geographical scale, to ensure that lesbian and bisexual women get appropriate information about their health and the services available to them.
"Cervical screening awareness is a key priority at the LGF and we will now be pushing forward with the report's recommendations, including encouraging LGB specific training for health professionals, sexual orientation monitoring, developing partnership work, and more targeted, appropriate and accurate information for lesbian and bisexual women."
To download the summary results of Are You Ready For Your Screen Test? and view campaign materials visit:www.lgf.org.uk/screening
To read the full report Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Women in the North West: A Multi-Method Study of Cervical Screening Attitudes, Experiences & Uptake visit: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/16596
