Breast screening can feel daunting for anyone. For women who need reasonable adjustments, the barriers can be greater – and knowing what support they can ask for can make a real difference.
West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance wanted to reach women from culturally diverse communities, women with learning disabilities and women living with severe mental illness, alongside their families and carers. The aim was clear: empower more women to ask for reasonable adjustments and feel more confident about their screening appointment.
We started by listening. Focus groups and conversations with local communities helped us understand the barriers women faced and shape messaging that was accessible, culturally aware and grounded in lived experience.
From that insight came You Can Ask – a simple, permission-based campaign delivered across digital, community and healthcare settings, giving women a clear message: breast screening can work around their needs, and asking for support is absolutely OK.
You Can Ask reached the people it was designed to support – and helped turn awareness into action.
Among 250 breast screening patients surveyed, 40% were aware of the campaign and over a third said it had helped support their screening appointment. Community outreach also saw 37 organisations request campaign packs to share through trusted local networks.
There was evidence of individual behaviour change too. One patient said recognising the face of the campaign prompted her to attend her screening appointment, while another proactively contacted the service about reasonable adjustments.
In Pudsey, screening attendance was 12.5% higher and non-attendance 19.8% lower in 2025 than in the 2022 screening round – encouraging evidence of wider change alongside the campaign.
Wrapped helped us turn a complex challenge into a clear, accessible campaign designed to reach diverse audiences, including people with learning disabilities, severe mental illness and culturally diverse communities. Their understanding of our audiences, combined with strong creative, digital and community outreach, helped us deliver real awareness, engagement and impact.
Mark Dean, Project Manager (Innovation Workstream). West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance.
