Better bowels and body checks: Catching cancer early for people with a learning disability
A big thank you to Pennine Care’s Community Learning Disability Team who recently got together with Shared Lives Oldham to run two awareness sessions around cancer screening.
Alongside their Shared Lives Carers, Tara, Graham and others learnt how to complete at-home bowel cancer tests and how to check for early signs of cancer.
People with learning disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to have health problems, with cancer as a leading cause of death. But they are less likely to recognise the early signs or attend cancer screening appointments.
The recent sessions focused on how to spot the signs testicular, cervical, breast and bowel cancer. The latter is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with almost 43,000 people diagnosed every year.
Marie, a Senior Learning Disability Nurse, explained…
“We know that people with a learning disability experience significant health inequalities, particularly around cancer. So, it’s really important we support them to spot the signs the early.
During the first session we practised completing an at-home bowel screening test using a chocolate truffle mixture. It was really effective as it demonstrated how easy, quick and simple it is to do.
Our men’s health session focused how to properly check for signs of testicular cancer. The women focused on cervical cancer, breast cancer and the screening processes, to try and take away fear of the unknown. We also talked about looking after our general health and wellbeing, and what support is available.”
Both groups gave positive feedback, with attendee Peter saying…
“It was very interesting and I learnt a lot about my health. I’m now a lot more confident about what to regularly check for.”
Cheryl added…
“It was great. I learnt things about my body that I didn’t know before!”
