For healthier future, teach teens breast self-exam
Breast self-examination should begin in the teen-age years and continue for a lifetime. In that way, women will become very familiar with their breast tissue and can quickly discern if there has been a change, explains Kristina Pavlou, director of public education for Chicago-based Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization.
"If a woman starts breast self-examination at age 17, by the time she is 37 she will really know her breasts," says Pavlou.
That’s why the organization started an outreach program called Just for Teens aimed at high school seniors. The program covers the three components for early detection of breast cancer: clinical exam; breast self-exam; and mammography. With the aid of a breast model and a video, participants learn how to correctly examine their breasts for cancer on a monthly basis.
A manual explaining how to conduct the outreach program can be purchased from Y-Me for $30. "Just for Teens" brochures explaining about the components of early detection are also available for $8 per 100. Shipping and handling fees depend on quantity of materials ordered.
Originally, Pavlou used health care professionals to talk to teens about breast cancer. However, now Pavlou trains breast cancer survivors to conduct the program because she determined that teens listen to a survivor with rapt attention.
The knowledge teens gain when they participate in Just for Teens filters down to friends and family. "We have done surveys and found that the majority of students go home and ask their mothers if they have had mammograms or practice breast self-exam. The program gets the word out," says Pavlou.
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