Chinese-speaking women in Calgary can access breast cancer screening in their own language, a service health groups hope to offer to other immigrant communities.

In Canada, early screening for breast cancer using mammograms is recommended every one to two years for all women aged 50 and older. About 70 per cent of women follow the recommendation, but one study conducted in Ontario suggests screening rates are lower among immigrants.

Language barriers can prevent some women from accessing breast cancer screening services.
Language barriers can prevent some women from accessing breast cancer screening services.

To get the word out, several health groups in Calgary have been translating screening information into Chinese. The information outlines the services available and what women can do to detect breast cancer as early as possible.

For the past eight years, the Alberta Cancer Board has sent a van into Calgary's Chinatown to offer mammograms to elderly women who may feel more comfortable having the exam done in their own community by people who speak their language.

More women are using the service, including 84 visits to the van so far this year, said Jan Stevens, manager of the board's screening program.

"It's really hard to know whether we're getting all of our target group," said Stevens. "The physicians down there, the volunteers work very hard to reach the women we want to see, however it remains a woman's choice whether she comes."

New Chinese immigrants may not be aware they can help detect breast cancer through self-examination, said Joanne Yee, executive director of the Chinese Community Service Association, which spearheaded the project.

"That information is not shared with them when they're in China," said Yee.

The project will start by offering workshops next month to introduce Chinese women to some of the services available.

The collaboration between the Calgary Health Region, Canadian Cancer Society and the Alberta Cancer Board hopes to expand the project to other minorities, including other Southeast Asians, South Asians and aboriginals.