Cancer screening in older prison populations: a missed opportunity?
Cancer screening in older prison populations: a missed opportunity?
The number of older women imprisoned is increasing around the world, leading to an increased demand on health and social care services within prisons. Imprisoned women are considered older by age 50 as they experience a disproportionate burden of cancer and disease. Access to prison cancer screening programmes in prison should mirror access in the community; however, this is not always the case. The purpose of this scoping review is to systematically review the literature relating to enablers and barriers of cancer screening programmes in imprisoned older women. We performed a scoping review using the Arksey and O’Malley framework. Twelve studies were identified. Locations of studies varied across high-income countries. Enablers and barriers were identified within operational, personal, and accessibility categories. To improve mortality relating to cancer diagnosis it is vital that older imprisoned women are supported to access cancer screening. It was identified that older imprisoned women have different needs to other prison populations, and the barriers and enablers identified relate to staffing, communication, peer support, and processes to improve the experience of the older prison population. There is limited research in this area, and older women are a minority in a marginalized prison population. More research is needed to ensure the appropriate and effective development of cancer screening services.
barriers, cancer screening, enablers, imprisoned women, older women
Austin, Natalie
d6fa9bea-98b4-4cba-88c7-38ae4910e132
Plugge, Emma
b64d2086-6cf2-4fae-98bf-6aafa3115b35
26 January 2026
Austin, Natalie
d6fa9bea-98b4-4cba-88c7-38ae4910e132
Plugge, Emma
b64d2086-6cf2-4fae-98bf-6aafa3115b35
Austin, Natalie and Plugge, Emma
(2026)
Cancer screening in older prison populations: a missed opportunity?
Social Sciences, 15 (2), [64].
(doi:10.3390/socsci15020064).
Abstract
The number of older women imprisoned is increasing around the world, leading to an increased demand on health and social care services within prisons. Imprisoned women are considered older by age 50 as they experience a disproportionate burden of cancer and disease. Access to prison cancer screening programmes in prison should mirror access in the community; however, this is not always the case. The purpose of this scoping review is to systematically review the literature relating to enablers and barriers of cancer screening programmes in imprisoned older women. We performed a scoping review using the Arksey and O’Malley framework. Twelve studies were identified. Locations of studies varied across high-income countries. Enablers and barriers were identified within operational, personal, and accessibility categories. To improve mortality relating to cancer diagnosis it is vital that older imprisoned women are supported to access cancer screening. It was identified that older imprisoned women have different needs to other prison populations, and the barriers and enablers identified relate to staffing, communication, peer support, and processes to improve the experience of the older prison population. There is limited research in this area, and older women are a minority in a marginalized prison population. More research is needed to ensure the appropriate and effective development of cancer screening services.
Text
socsci-15-00064-v2
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 22 January 2026
Published date: 26 January 2026
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 by the authors.
Keywords:
barriers, cancer screening, enablers, imprisoned women, older women
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 510837
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/510837
ISSN: 2076-0760
PURE UUID: 59bb5049-1c1d-4de0-8f34-91c61a90fdb9
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 22 Apr 2026 16:56
Last modified: 25 Apr 2026 02:44
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Natalie Austin
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics