1. Project goals
- Test an innovative, participatory model for better access to cancer information, screening, and preventive health care for ethnoracial minority women, starting with one ethnic minority community (Hispanic) in one urban area (Ottawa).
- Increase the capacity of Hispanic women to participate in their own preventive health care.
- Increase the capacity of organizations to provide cancer screening for ethnoracial minority women.
- Actively transfer learnings to improve other ethnoracial minority women's uptake of cancer screening.
2. Why focus on cancer screening
The recently published report by the Ontario Women's
Health Council (OWHC) on the health status of women in Canada confirms
that women from minority backgrounds do not participate to the same extent
in cancer screening tests as 'mainstream' women (OWHC, 2002). Lack of information
about the tests in their own languages and inability to communicate with service
providers was reported as one of the largest barriers for immigrant women.
Equitable access to services is an important goal within Canada's publicly funded health care system. We wanted to test
a model to improve access to information and health services within that system. We also hope that the model might be useful
to other minority women and adapted to other health issues.
Go to Background Information for a more detailed description of the rationale for this project, which also includes references.
