Animations have been developed to raise awareness of the Breast, Bowel and Cervical national cancer screening programmes for BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) residents/patients/ community organisations. 

Our take up rates for cancer screening are currently lower for BME patients so the animations are targeted to contribute to reducing this health inequality.

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP)'s Health Improvement staff worked in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s (NHSGGC) Equalities & Human Rights Team, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, Bowel Cancer UK and the West of Scotland Breast Screening Service.  This ensured accurate and current content for the scripts which were produced in the Arabic, Mandarin, Punjabi, Roma and Urdu (with English subtitles), as well as English and British Sign Language (BSL). Community volunteers kindly provided the voice overs.

The animations can be used for social media platforms and as video brochures which allow people to view the animations without the need for data/sound/access to a social media platform. 

It is hoped that this will help to increase uptake of screening services which reduced due to the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

Kenna Campbell, Health Improvement Senior said: “The animations have been really well received and we are now distributing the video brochures to community groups.  We held information sessions virtually and were able connect with a much wider audience. We have had lots of interest from other Health Boards and HSCPs who want to use these resources.  These animations will help to reduce inequalities that minority ethnic groups experience in relation to cancer screening.”

People who attended the cancer information sessions said: “I thought the videos were great, really easy to understand. Their process was excellent when you think about how they engaged with local communities to check meanings of words and which words they would generally use. It’s too easy to get a basic script and get that translated into a language and be satisfied with that; to actually involve local communities means they’ve got some ownership of it and it’s something they can be proud of and hopefully have a video they’ll be able to share.”

“I think the format is great. The animations are in the most common spoken languages in Glasgow, but even without the voiceovers you would almost get it with the animations. It looks fun. It’s not just a boring bit of text to read. It’s just a nice wee thing to watch.”

The animations are available to view on NHS Inform and the NHSGGC YouTube channel.  

Arabic | Translations (nhsinform.scot)
Chinese (simplified) | Translations (nhsinform.scot)
Punjabi | Translations (nhsinform.scot)
Urdu | Translations (nhsinform.scot)
Roma | Translations (nhsinform.scot)

The animations for English and BSL are available to view the NHSGGC YouTube channel: 
(51) NHSGGC - Cancer Screening Videos (British Sign Language) - YouTube
(51) NHSGGC - Cancer Screening Videos in English - YouTube