INCREASING DIVERSITY

Reflecting the population of the UK

INCREASING DIVERSITY

Our research and patient involvement should reflect the population of the UK.

The research that we fund has the potential to benefit men of every ethnicity around the world. However, specific research is needed into improving outcomes for groups disproportionately affected by prostate cancer, and Black men have higher risks of both being diagnosed with, and dying of prostate cancer.

However, neither of our two grant calls to date have resulted in proposals focused on improving the situation for Black men in the UK coming before us. Our ecosystem analysis also revealed a lack of research into this issue. Therefore, in 2021, we will run a grant call specifically focused on prostate cancer and Black men.

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, we took time to reflect on where we could and should be taking action to promote equality within our remit as a medical research charity. Our statement (prostatecancer-research.org.uk/black-lives-matter/) condemned racism in all its forms, reaffirmed our support for the Black community, and outlines the actions we were already taking or would now take regarding the work we fund, the research environment, and our patient involvement.

In 2020, we worked to gain a deeper understanding of prostate cancer in Black men internally, and the combination of biology, educational opportunities, and unequal access to care which put them at greater risk. This work is helping us to design a grant call to meet these needs. In early 2021, we consulted with experts in this space ahead of opening this funding opportunity.

The research environment could be more equitable. Cancer is one of the biggest problems of our time and the best and brightest people must have equal opportunities to be part of the solution. In 2020, we significantly tightened our research contracts in regards to fair pay and recognition, and dignity and respect in the workplace. We hope that this will help make research careers more accessible and sustainable for a broader range of people including women and people from less privileged socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.

Our 2020 rebrand included updating our communications materials to better reflect the diversity of the UK.

Our patient involvement activities are open to anyone with a direct experience of prostate cancer. However, like most British medical charities, we find that the patients who connect with us tend to be better educated, more empowered, already ‘connected’ and primarily White people. This is a problem for us, as the group most disproportionately affected by prostate cancer didn’t inform our decision-making. Two PCR departments have now been set the objective of improving the diversity of our Patient Involvement over the next year. We are building links with seldomheard networks and are always keen to hear from individuals and community leaders who would like to work in partnership with us to increase prostate cancer information, education and research within their communities, and who can help us ensure that we are listening to all voices in everything we do.

We are not a social justice organisation, but we are determined to make sure that change happens for the people we are here to serve, in our relentless pursuit of a better future for men with prostate cancer and their families.