As a partner in the award-winning Aboriginal led invitations and bra lift breast screen participation project, its staff have driven positive health outcomes in the district.
DLALC has partnered with Murrumbidgee Local Health District, Breast Screen NSW Greater Southern (BSGS) and Support the Girls to run the project in the local area.
The program also runs in the Albury region, and has been such a success in both areas that it received the Exceptional Aboriginal Health Care Award at this year’s MLHD Excellence Awards.
In accepting the award, BreastScreen NSW health promotion officer Heather Hilliam said it was a great honour to be recognised.
“It’s a sad fact that Aboriginal women are more likely to die from breast cancer than other women in our community and that’s in part because they’re less likely to screen,” she said.
“So Aboriginal women are less likely to find cancer early, when it’s easier to treat and survival rates are higher.
“That is something we can change and I am very proud to be part of a large team that has found a way.”
The project was designed to harness the local knowledge of community members, tailoring support appropriately for women who needed transport to and from screenings, more frequent reminders, or more reassurance and support.
Rather than invitations to screening coming via a letter from BreastScreen NSW, the project relied on Aboriginal partner organisations liaising with BSGS to determine which patients were overdue, due or had never screened.
Equipped with this knowledge, trusted women from Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service and Deniliquin Local Aboriginal Lands Council then called clients to have a yarn about the importance of screening, to book them in, and to note what reminders or transport support were required to overcome barriers.
In Deniliquin that included DLALC CEO Rose Dunn and staff members Lenore Jones, Karen Mobourne and Lorraine Parsons.
Women who underwent screenings were also gifted a professional bra fitting and several new bras, provided by Support the Girls, a charity that provides practical products, care, compassion and dignity to vulnerable, disadvantaged and isolated women, and is proud to be helping BSGS to save lives.
Through raising awareness and screening numbers for Aboriginal women in the local community, the Deniliquin team was the catalyst for the Edward River Council having the highest percentage of breast screening participation for Aboriginal women across all NSW local government areas.
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