Blog

Olubukola Ayodele: How to Make Breast Screening More Accessible and Acceptable Within the Black Community

Olubukola Ayodele/LinkedIn

May 18, 2025, 08:07

Olubukola Ayodele: How to Make Breast Screening More Accessible and Acceptable Within the Black Community

Olubukola Ayodele, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“This week, I had the privilege of engaging with incredible community leaders in Leicester with my friend and colleague Dr Oladejo Olaleye to discuss a topic close to my heart: how we can work together to improve breast screening uptake and reduce late presentation in Black women.

As a breast oncologist, I see first-hand how delayed diagnoses disproportionately affect outcomes for Black women. Too often, they present at later stages, when treatment is more complex and survival chances are lower.

The reasons are layered: cultural stigma, mistrust of the healthcare system, poor representation in health campaigns and a lack of tailored education around risk.

What made this engagement so powerful was its collaborative energy. This wasn’t about telling communities what to do; it was about LISTENING, LEARNING and CODESIGNING. The leaders I spoke with brought insight that no data set can fully capture: lived experience, cultural context and the barriers that traditional healthcare systems often overlook.

Olubukola Ayodele

We explored:

– How to make breast screening more accessible and acceptable within the Black community.
– The role of trusted messengers in spreading awareness.
– How language, faith, body image and family dynamics influence screening behaviour.
– And how we can challenge the myths and silence around breast cancer that persist in many communities.

But the biggest takeaway?

Real change only happens when communities are not just included but empowered as co-creators.

We cannot improve outcomes without first building trust. And we cannot build trust without showing up, being consistent and creating space for people to lead their own health conversations.

We’re now working together to shape interventions WITH the community, not FOR the community. This includes developing culturally tailored education tools, peer-led awareness events and improving how screening services are communicated and delivered.

Equity in cancer care doesn’t begin in the clinic; it begins in the community.

The solutions to health inequalities are already out there, sitting in community halls, churches, salons, mosques, WhatsApp groups and kitchens. We just need to go there.

This is only the beginning. Grateful for the opportunity, and energised for what lies ahead.”

Olubukola Ayodele

Olubukola Ayodele described a recent initiative with community leaders in Leicester focused on improving breast screening rates among Black women.
The collaboration aims to develop culturally sensitive interventions and build trust through community-led health strategies.

More posts featuring Olubukola Ayodele on OncoDaily.