Success StoryBreast Cancer Awareness



Breast Cancer Awareness

Author: Shannon Smith

Planning Unit: Bracken County CES

Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General

Plan of Work: Healthy Families, Healthy Individuals

Outcome: Long-Term Outcome

While we educate our community all year long about Breast Cancer Awareness, extra efforts are made during the month of October. Our message is clear: Breast cancer affects women and even men, of all ages and does not discriminate. Self-care is a vital part of everyone’s health and sometimes as women we put ourselves on the back burner.   The Bracken County Extension Office partnered with the Bracken County Health Dept., Primary Plus a local health care provider, and the Kentucky Cancer Program to offer a 4 part video series on Breast Cancer Awareness and local resources.  This series was designed to highlight self-care and prioritize getting needed examinations in a timely manner. The four part weekly video series had a new topic each week and featured local survivors’ stories.   The series included: prevention and screening, risk factors, local resources, and healthy lifestyle.   One Breast Cancer Survivor shared her story starting with a mammogram she received right here in the county that led to a cancer diagnosis, chemo, surgery and now remission. Her video message was viewed more than 700 times!  Seeing her as a person, friend, and neighbor rather than just a statistic encouraged 2 women to get their first mammogram ever.  Another one of the videos introduced the mobile mammogram unit that comes to our county twice a year at the Extension Office, and every month to Primary Plus.  This step-by-step video showed exactly how the process works and what first timers could expect.  This unit is offered to ladies through a grant at no cost.  The appointments fill up every month that the mammogram van is here.   Many women reported they did not know the ease and frequent availability of the unit until after the series and regretted putting it off since it had been such a hassle in the past.  






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