Own It: How community-led workshops are breaking barriers in cervical screening

Australia is setting a gold standard for cervical cancer prevention, and we’re on track to be the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer by 2028. 

It’s an ambitious goal, and to achieve it, we need to encourage everyone with a cervix to participate in regular cervical screening. Screening is one of the most effective ways individuals can proactively protect themselves from cervical cancer.

This year, we received funding from the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative (AHMC), in partnership with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, to provide workshops with a clear aim: to increase the rate of cervical screening for women from diverse communities. Priority groups were identified by AMHC as women from Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Punjabi, and Vietnamese-speaking communities. 

So, what is cervical screening?

The cervical screening test replaced the Pap smear test in 2017, and detects cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV) in a sample of cells taken from the cervix. It’s a process many find physically, emotionally and culturally challenging, which could be why the identified priority community groups have low participation rates.

Designing workshops with impact

The workshops were designed in consultation with community champions to ensure they were relevant, culturally sensitive and delivered in appropriate language. This community engagement provided valuable insight and led to workshops that were:

• Held in familiar locations 
• Held at lunch times and in the evenings, so participants could attend without missing work time
• Centred on real-life stories from those with lived experience 

Our facilitators answered commonly asked questions like, “can I collect my own cervical screening sample?” The answer is yes, you can. Self-collection became universally available in July 2022. Now, those with a cervix can collect their sample in privacy without a speculum and be confident that their sample is just as accurate and effective as one collected by a healthcare professional. 

Assessing the outcomes

To understand whether the workshops were successful, we asked participants to answer a pre- and post-workshop survey assessing changes in knowledge, attitudes and intention to participate in cervical screening. One participant said the workshop and the cervical screening program were “really important for women’s health,” and the survey results showed marked improvements in attitudes to cervical screening. 

• Participants reported a better understanding of the cervical screening program. 
• Participants reported they were more likely to participate in regular cervical screenings. 
• Participants understood where to access relevant information. 
• Participants expressed greater willingness to discuss cervical screening with family and friends. 

One participant explained how the knowledge shared helped her to better understand Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which she says “was just an acronym for me, but now I know what it is.” Another said of the workshops: “It was great opportunity to be part of this event, which was fully insightful. Informative and tremendous helpful. Thanks to Cancer Council.”

The power of proactive healthcare

Dr Kanan Shah is a pharmacist and ayurvedic practitioner with an intimate understanding of the power of preventative care. She attended a community workshop to share her story. 

Together with her husband and two-year-old son, Dr Shah migrated to Australia from India in 2007. In 2020, her cervical screening detected HPV, which, thankfully, had not progressed. With a nine-year-old daughter and a fifteen-year-old son to care for and no local family support, Dr Shah became even more diligent about her regular screenings and commitment to looking after her health. Regular screenings gave her the peace of mind that the detected HPV was not progressing into cervical cancer. 

Here at Cancer Council NSW, we believe everyone with a cervix deserves to access cervical screening in a culturally safe and comfortable way. As one workshop participant put it, “prevention is better than a cure”, and we couldn’t agree more! Together, we can work towards a future free from cancer and meet our goal of a cervical cancer-free Australia by 2028. 

For more information, visit our cervical screening section or learn more about Cervical cancer.