Content area
Full Text
Last September, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency's mobile mammography bus travelled gravel roads to reach the First Nations community of Pelican Narrows, some 400 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert. Over the next three days, 95 women - about half of all those eligible - were screened for breast cancer. For a third of them, it was their first ever mammogram.
First Nations women are recognized as an underscreened population for breast cancer. Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) Health Services, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and Health Canada partnered to bring mammography screening on reserve and closer to home.
PBCN Health Services coordinates and delivers health-care services on reserve for the communities of Pelican Narrows, Deschambault Lake, Southend, Sturgeon Landing and Kinoosao.
The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency coordinates the province's mammography screening program. When a woman turns 50, she is sent a letter of invitation to attend screening, which is performed at seven sites (Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Swift Current, Yorkton) and through a mobile mammography unit that travels to rural communities on a two-year rotation schedule. The agency reports the results to the woman and her physician and coordinates followup for abnormal results.
Health Canada funds the delivery of health programs and services on reserve through the First Nations and lnuit Health Branch (FNIHB). A FNIHB clinical nurse specialist worked as a liaison between PBCN and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency on this initiative.
A community health developer from the Angelique Canada Health Centre in Pelican Narrows delivered an invitation to...