Many Barriers to Cancer Screening
We’re partnering with the Cancer Services Program of Monroe County, Martino Flynn, and Myers Creative Imaging and nearly a dozen nonprofit organizations to refresh our current cancer screening initiative. This initiative works to encourage more people to get potentially life-saving breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings.
From behind the scenes at a recent video shoot, we heard volunteers share how cancer has affected their lives. One individual grabbed our attention and our heart strings with his incredible story. Patrick, age 67, is a grateful survivor of prostate cancer. His case was detected early by a prostate screening test.
After losing his father and four brothers at an early age to cancer, Patrick was motivated to get screened. Thankfully he did, because Patrick says he wouldn't be alive today without it.
“As a survivor of prostate cancer whose cancer was detected early enough for cure, I have learned that cancer respects no boundaries and early detection saves lives. ”
The mood changed though as he spoke of barriers that are holding him back from getting screened again. His high health insurance premiums and fear the test might be positive mean he's reluctant to get screened for colon cancer.
His story was a powerful reminder to us that awareness alone won't solve the problem. There are so many other barriers to getting screened. To succeed, we must help people overcome these barriers and dispel the misconceptions around cancer screening.
Keep an eye out for the public launch of this initiative within the next few months. If you'd like to learn more or get involved, please contact Mary Hadley, Senior Program Manager, at mhadley@causewave.org.