World Cancer Day
This year, we at MediPaCe, decided to support World Cancer Day on the 4th Feb 2023 by sharing stories, promoting good behaviours and talking about the barriers to health care that exist for some people #CloseTheCareGap
World Cancer Day 2023 explores the equity gap and the 8 barriers that stand in the way of cancer care which are:
- Gender norms and discrimination
- Barriers for minority populations
- Poverty and socioeconomic status
- The rural-urban divide
- Age
- Refugee and forced displacement.
- Homophobia, transphobia, and related discrimination
- Barriers for care for people with disabilities.
Each day we decided to raise awareness of each of the above but for this podcast we focused on the barriers for people with disabilities. The World Cancer Day website brilliantly explains the issues people face:
“Not only do people with disabilities require medical care specifically for their impairment, they also need general healthcare including services related to cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care.1
This is where people with disabilities face discrimination in the system and barriers to accessing services and receiving care, in addition to financial challenges.
These barriers generally relate to attitudes, beliefs and behaviours (attitudinal barriers) on behalf of caregivers; organisational or communication factors, such as information, prescriptions and other services not adapted for people with hearing or vision impairment; and physical barriers that include transportation difficulties, medical equipment that is inaccessible for people due to height or physical impairment, lack of amenities or accessible passages and rooms to accommodate people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities”.
Patient Podcast
In our podcast listen to this lady talk about her experiences as a person with sight loss and multiple health conditions. You will hear her touch on many of the examples given above and you will hopefully start to better understand how it feels for someone with a #disability when accessing health care – “Just because we have a disability doesn’t mean we are invisible”
Summary of our weeklong activity
If you missed it, below is a collation of all of our activity leading up to World Cancer Day. We found articles, research papers, good health information and promotion to raise awareness of health inequities.
Before exploring the other links, why not Take the Quiz and find out what you already know about health inequity and cancer on World Cancer Days website? Take the Quiz | World Cancer Day
Information for each of the other areas have been included below. We hope that you find it useful.
Disability
Examples of easy-to-read cancer screening guides that Mencap have created for people with learning disabilities.
Gender Norms
This research paper collates the experiences of men post breast cancer surgery: psycnet.apa.org
& Breast Cancer Now have some useful info for Men with Breast Cancer: breastcancernow.org
Socio-economic status
Children’s cancer have shared an article discussing the prevalence of cancer across populations of African-American and Hispanic Children: Children’s Cancer Research Fund and this article explores the reasons behind of late diagnosis of cancer in Tanzania: Patients’ pathways to cancer care in Tanzania
Rural Urban divide
Around the globe there are challenges accessing cancer care due to the distances people have to travel and the modes of travel available to them. Here’s a useful website showing such disparities in the US: gis.cancer.gov
Age
Age can have an impact on the quality of cancer care in some areas of the world. Bowel Cancer UK are sharing information on the importance of getting tested and how, in England, the NHS are making standard screening available at a younger age: bowelcanceruk.org.uk
Refugees
There can be a breakdown in basic health services for refugees and those under forced displacement. European Cancer and ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) have set up a Special Network to provide a response to the war in Ukraine: europeancancer.org
In addition, this paper looks at how refugees in the US experience dramatic disparities in cancer screening europepmc.org
LGBTQ+
LGBTQI people can face discrimination within some medical establishments. To support better care, Prostate UK have produced some valuable info on tests for trans women prostatecanceruk.org And this meeting extract highlights the positive outcomes from training for oncologists ascopubs.org
Minority Populations
MacMillan Cancer have shared a wonderful article describing the cancer taboo often felt within Asian Communities: macmillan.org.uk and this paper explores the barriers women from certain cultures face – particularly when trying to undertake the physical activities required to improve health outcomes apcz.umk.pl
Within the South Asian community people often struggle with additional cultural barriers and stigma associated with the ‘C’ word. Here are 3 cancer survivors sharing their stories to help tackle misconceptions and raise awareness of the taboo and stigma in the community huffingtonpost.co.uk
Please visit the World Cancer Day website to find out more: https://www.worldcancerday.org/
