As a support person, you are important in supporting people with intellectual disability to be in control of their health. We know that talking about cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening can be awkward and embarrassing.
This is why we've created a tool to assist you to have conversations with people with intellectual disability about cancer screening. It contains information on cervical, breast and bowel screening and provides some tips and strategies on how to start the conversation. There is also a planning template that you can use together with the tool to help you plan your conversations.
Before asking if it is okay to talk about the cancer screening tests, check you have:
- Just Checking easy English social stories and videos
- time to chat
- a private space
- knowledge of local referrals for each of the cancer screening tests
- knowledge of referral options and how to respond if the person you support discloses trauma
- time to come back to the discussion and repeat key messages. People with intellectual disability may need extra time to process the information
And remember, when talking about cancer screening, relax and just be yourself.
You can also practice using this tool and the other Just Checking resources in the free online learning program, available here.
