On the occasion of Pink October, the Centre François Baclesse welcomed people with disabilities on Friday, October 15, 2021, to raise awareness and inform them about breast cancer screening.
This initiative was organized in partnership with the Réseau de Services pour une Vie Autonome (RSVA), the city of Caen (CCAS and Service Santé Risques et Salubrité) and the Ligue contre le cancer du Calvados.
In Normandy, the participation rate in organized breast Cancer screening is 54.7% (2017- 2018 data) and a survey carried out by a regional working group shows that only 31.8% of people receiving the disabled adults' allowance (AAH) took part in this screening (-22.9%).
This survey also reveals that the main difficulties in accessing organized screening for this population are:
- anxiety and fear of mammography and of the hospital (42.2%);
- difficulties in understanding and information not always adapted or readable by all;
- lack of autonomy and motor difficulties.
With this in mind, all the partners decided to set up an initiative to demystify mammography, the hospital and healthcare professionals alike.
We organized visits to the Senology Department to explain and simulate a mammography examination (feeling the pressure of the machine on your hand).
Participants were then able to talk to an oncologist, a radiologist and the Mathilde association about breast screening and breast cancer.
23 people were sensitized through this initiative, both people with disabilities and medical and social professionals, who play an essential role in supporting and encouraging screening and prevention.
Our shared aim is to make this initiative a lasting one, and to develop other projects to improve care and access to healthcare for people with disabilities.
This visit, organized on October 15 between 2 and 4 pm, took place with 5 successive groups of 5 people, who had been selected in advance.
