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Breast And Cervical Screening Awareness Training
Resource Pack
Aims of this programme
The project aims to combine the resources of the community
development sector and the health sector in order to increase
uptake of screening services. Course materials were designed
in conjunction with health professionals and the programme
was based on the principles of peer learning.
Context
The ‘Breast and Cervical Screening Awareness’
Programme was created to tackle the worryingly low uptake
of breast & cervical screening invitations by women living
in disadvantaged areas of Belfast.
The government target for the proportion of women attending
regular cervical screening is 90%, and in many parts of England
this has been achieved. In Northern Ireland however, the uptake
is much lower and in some parts of Belfast less than 50% of
women attend for screening. Figures for breast screening programmes
also fall short of UK averages.
Breast and Cervical cancer statistics are shocking. Each
year in the United Kingdom 38,000 women are newly diagnosed
with breast cancer. 13,000 women die from breast cancer each
year, and every week 730 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed.
In Northern Ireland about 80 cases of cervical cancer are
diagnosed per year. Approximately half these women will never
have had a smear test in their life.
Click here for the ‘Content
of Sessions’ [ in Adobe 'pdf' format ]
Why work with us to increase uptake of breast
& cervical screening invitations in your area?
Traditional approaches of encouraging marginalized women
to attend screening tend to be less effective in disadvantaged
communities.
A pilot project of this screening programme showed that peer
education was effective in communicating the importance of
breast and cervical screening to women and increasing participants’
uptake of screening services. The programme achieves added
value in reaching a wider audience through word-of-mouth information
from participants to their families, friends and colleagues.
This programme is effective with women living in areas of
social need, and also with women who have learning disabilities
and mental health problems. Research by the Disability Rights
Commission suggests that less than one in five women with
a learning disability have cervical screening.
“The Eastern Health and Social Services Board
has a responsibility to ensure the provision of high
quality breast and cervical cancer screening programmes
and to encourage high uptake of these screening services.
In trying to improve the uptake rate the Board recognises
the importance of working with women in the community
to understand their needs and concerns and to work with
them to improve the use of the screening services.
The partnership with the WRDA and the Health and Social
Services Trusts has provided the opportunity to address
this issue in an innovative and effective manner”.
Dr. Paula Kilbane (Chief Executive, Eastern
Health and Social Services Board)
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“I now know what to expect. The course takes
the mystery out of it”.
Group Participant |
| “I like the way it was delivered – no
jargon”.
Group Participant
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