Keep Maine Healthy
Days
by
Jennifer McCormack, RN
Healthy Community Coalition
Farmington, ME
Healthy Community Coalition (HCC), which serves the Greater Franklin County area, offers comprehensive, community-based health education, promotion, and outreach that includes clinical screenings, public health policy development, and worksite wellness. Our mobile health unit and community outreach efforts appear in every town and corner of our community to support healthy lifestyles that prevent disease and improve quality of life.
As part of this outreach, HCC held Keep Maine Healthy Days at two local ski resorts in the northern remote towns of Rangeley and Carrabassett Valley.
Over the course of five days, over 400 women and men who took part in the Keep Maine Healthy Days were provided with information about breast health and screening guidelines. HCC offered free screening and treatment for women without health insurance. In addition, free blood pressure checks, flu shots, and Avon products were offered as incentives for the events.
The ski resorts are over an hour away from the closest local hospital and other medical services making it difficult for women and men to access health education, support and screening services. Outreach to these remote areas enables community members to receive counseling and support regarding timely care that they may not otherwise receive.
We learned that the majority of the 73 women referred for mammograms were women who had put off having a mammogram because of lack of time. Being able to take time to take care of their health needs was a unique opportunity for many of these women. The people who work at these ski resorts are generally part-time, low-wage seasonal workers. Employers do not offer health insurance benefits, although some of the workers have catastrophic health insurance.
Being
at these locations for several weeks enables us
to reach women who are initially reluctant to schedule their mammogram,
but over time develop a sense of trust in the HCC staff and thus schedule their appointments at one of the later events. We make every effort to go to these locations because our repeat visits give the women an opportunity to get to know our staff better. The trusting relationship between our staff and the women has been crucial in getting more women to schedule their mammography appointments.
Funding from Avon has made it possible for HCC to reach out to women in these very remote parts of the community and to pilot new outreach strategies to ensure those truly hard-to-reach women receive timely breast care services.
