Dear HIFA colleagues,
Below are extracts from the WHO Publication I mentioned yestereday. These extracts refer to outreach activities, defined as 'efforts made beyond the walls of the health-care facility to reach target populations with the goals of increasing knowledge about specific health issues (cervical cancer prevention is one example) and improving access to health services....'
The full publication is available here: https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/98beead0-4aca-431a-88a9-...
The section on outreach is on pages 86-88.
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Adult women: The greatest benefit from cervical screening can be gained by limiting the use of screening resources to women in the 30–49 age group, as recommended by WHO.
Vulnerable groups: ... Special efforts need to be made to reach the most vulnerable populations...
Community leaders and champions: Engaging community leaders can greatly facilitate outreach efforts. A few strong leaders who become champions of the cause can bring in community support that will ensure a successful programme...
Men: As with other aspects of women’s reproductive health, it is crucial to reach and involve men...
Once the target populations have been defined, an outreach plan can include:
• community health workers and peer-to-peer communication strategies to provide information and motivate populations to seek services;
• mobile screening units and/or vaccine brigades to bring services to communities;
• posters, pamphlets, radio, television and internet-based social media to reach all segments of the target populations, as well as people who can influence them
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The section doesn't mention cancer survivors, whose importance has been highlighted by Diya (India): https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/cervical-cancer-32-awareness-and-screen...
I searched the publication for 'survivors' and found no reference (it's possible that a different term was used). Perhaps their role could be recognised in future editions/publications.
HIFA colleagues: Do you have any experience with outreach activities in relation to cervical cancer? What did you do? What worked well and not so well? What could be done to support outreach activities in the future?
Many thanks for your contributions. Please email: hifa@hifaforums.org
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org