Designing a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Service for Young Women from Irish Traveller, Gypsy and Roma communities: A Focus Group and Co-Design Study

Irish Traveller, Gypsy and Roma women aged 30 to 49 are being asked what a breast cancer risk assessment service should look like, before the NHS designs one for them. This matters because these communities have extremely low uptake of cancer screening—often due to mistrust, cultural barriers, or information that does not speak to their lives. Without their input, any future risk assessment service risks being ignored or inaccessible to the very women who might benefit most. The project fills a gap: no one has systematically asked these women what they need from such a service. If the research succeeds, the NHS could offer a breast cancer risk assessment that these women actually use. That means earlier detection for a group that currently misses out, and information materials co-created with the community rather than imposed from outside. The immediate change is better communication and trust, not a new medical technology. The project does not test a clinical intervention; it designs the front door to one.