CANBERRA. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will lead Australia’s first national, community-controlled bowel cancer awareness and screening campaign from the first week of July, when NACCHO launches Strong Inside. The Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) sector will drive the campaign, with assistance from NACCHO-specific bowel campaign materials tailored for communities. The campaign will be further supported by in-language radio and video advertisements to ensure a broad reach and that no communities are left behind.
Bowel cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. If found early, more than 90 per cent of cases can be successfully treated. The screening test is free, private and can be done at home. While there are barriers that exist for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participating in bowel cancer screening, the evidence is clear: when community-controlled health services lead the way, more people take part. Strong Inside builds on that strength.
Strong Inside takes a dual approach, targeting community members in the 45-to-74 screening age group through awareness-raising activities and health promotional materials, while supporting health professionals across the ACCHO sector with tools to engage in conversations with community about bowel cancer screening and encourage people to take the test.
There are two ways community can access a free bowel screening kit. People aged 45 to 49 can request their first free kit through a health professional at their local ACCHO. People aged 50 to 74 receive a free kit in the mail every two years or can request one through their local ACCHO.
Across radio, television, social media, and community settings, Strong Inside carries a single message: No shame. Have a yarn. Just check it. These reminders then turn that message into action: Do the kit. Don’t sit on it.
The campaign includes a promotional kit for ACCHOs, complete with health promotion resources, training and education resources, and a social media toolkit to support the delivery of local bowel cancer campaigns. In addition, radio and video advertisements with in-language translations will be available to remote and very remote communities, ensuring content is shaped around men’s and women’s business. These will be available across community radio, television, and in-clinic screens.
Every message points back to the same place, the local ACCHO, where people can talk to a trusted healthcare professional, get help on how to do the test and feel safe knowing their local ACCHO is supporting them every step of the way.
NACCHO Chief Executive Officer Dr Dawn Casey PSM FAHA said community control was the proven way to lift screening.
“Caught early, bowel cancer is one of the most treatable cancers we face, and catching it early is what our services do best. The test is simple, and it works. What has not worked is a mainstream system that expects our communities to fit around it.
Community control turns that around: when screening runs through the health services our people already trust, more people take the test. That is not a theory, it is what our services see every day,” Dr Casey said.
“Our services have spent decades earning that trust. Strong Inside puts it to work on a cancer we can beat, through our own services, in our own communities.”
Strong Inside runs throughout July, with ACCHOs adapting it for their own communities. In August, NACCHO will share the stories community creates through the campaign.
