The National Lung Cancer Screening Programme is Australia's newest cancer screening programme and it's for people aged 50 to 70 years of age who currently smoke tobacco cigarettes or who have quit within the last 10 years. If this is you, please visit your GP or health practitioner to find out if you are eligible for the screening programme.
How have services been planned
We've looked at the rates of lung cancer mortality from lung cancer, the demographic for that age group of 50 to 70 year old smokers. And then we've also looked at the distance to the nearest fixed CT and how that how far that person would actually have to travel. The selection of communities has been a long process of consultation between the Commonwealth, NACCHO, the state and territory jurisdictions down to the local level.
Why is co-design of programs so important for First Nations communities
The ownership of feeling the sense of respect for First Nations people, that's very important.
So the co-design of the program has been really critical to how we implement on the ground.
So we've worked very closely consulted with the local services, the local stakeholders, local groups to make sure that the way that we're working locally is appropriate, culturally appropriate for this community.
Why was co-designing the mobile screening service important
Too often programs are developed in areas that don't understand the cultural nuances of working with Aboriginal people. Place-based co-design you know, it's been signed off on the Closing the Gap National Agreement where government have said that they will work with us because we quite often have the answers to how we need to solve our problems for our own people.
What are the challenges in delivering health services in this region
Can be a challenge in terms of distance and can also be a challenge in terms of cost. So when you put all together, what you end up finding is that you are better off trying to work to attract services to come to you as opposed to more individual families to go to where services are.
For me, that was important to get that buy in, you know, from the community and that's where we are today.
Heart of Australia's mobile clinics include a CT scanner, which means that participants in the program can access a CT scan in a remote community.
Why is the mobile screening service important
We are so, you know, grateful to have the Heart of Australia truck here for us that the office is such a unique ability for our people to get CT scanning in a culturally safe environment with our staff that can walk through the journey with them. But not only that, we have support people on board now that should their results come back where they need ongoing treatment, we have people in the clinic that can help them go through that process, navigate oncology appointments.
And this is something that a lot of them wouldn't have if we didn't have Heart of Australia with the mobile CT scanner. The response from the town's been absolutely amazing and so very grateful. The team from Heart of Australia have been absolutely brilliant to work with.
We've done a lot of consultation over the last year about how we're going to run the service, how we're going to set it up, how it's going to be culturally safe. So yeah, it's been, it's been an amazing journey so far.
How did the Heart of Australia staff on the truck make you feel
They were welcoming. It was a really good feeling. They make you feel comfortable. They settle you.
You know, if you're nervous, they calm you're nerves and it's a really good feeling in there. Amazing.
It was amazing.
And it looked good inside it as well. Yeah. Like a house inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody was nice inside. They said yeah. And it's good.
What does it mean to have the mobile screening service in your community
Oh, it's really happy. Yeah. That's really good. Yeah. Good to have those sort of machines to for the people, for my people and for me and for the rest of the community.
What opportunities are there to strengthen conversations with mob about screening
Just having the small conversations here and there with people that have been going through it in the what I consider our first cohort of screeners here in the Pilbara. They have been the biggest champions for me to get the word out there more than any poster, more than any video or ad and stuff.
So we need members talking about it is our best bet for getting the word out.
The community are absolutely like over the moon, Facebook posts, we have a Facebook page that we put stuff on feedback in the supermarket, even from the local hospital.
We have done a lot of comms around Heart of Australia coming into Derby and the community to sum it up in one world are just word are just absolutely grateful.
It means so much to our community, any community to have a service like this.
It's readily available. It takes out travel time, it takes out stress time takes it takes out a wave time away from family. So you know it's available here. Do it, take advantage of it, utilize it.
It's really good cause. You know it's about you and your family really and your friends. So you get it done for your future too. You know, generation with your little grannies and that you want to be around. You want to know what's wrong with you.
What you're doing is you're giving people in these communities an equal chance of a long and healthy life. Give them a chance to access these services and be home in an hour as opposed to a three day trip and having access to this incredible health system that you know, we can bridge the gap. We can bridge the gap in health outcomes and we can do something incredible for the country.