New breast screening video breaks through barriers for trans healthcare
A new breast screening video from a cancer charity attempts to make healthcare accessible for the trans community with a step-by-step guide to breast screenings.
Pride month welcomes a new initiative by Macmillan Cancer's Research which attempts to highlight breast cancer awareness in a new, inclusive video for transgender people.
The Rainbow Project Cancer Champions is one of Macmillan's project supporting those experiencing cancer. Their newest launch aims to support transgender and non-binary people in accessing breast and and encourage them to use chest screening services - specifically made by and for the community.
Working with the Breast Imaging Unit at Antrim Area Hospital, the video is the first of an inclusive series on cancer care that is accessible to LGBTQIA+ people.
Jane, a participant who acted in the video, said she took part "to help bring awareness of breast screening to trans and non-binary people," and shared that after meeting the friendly team, she "wouldn't be nervous at all about going for a breast screening appointment. I felt very at ease with everyone," added Jane.
By "demystifying the process," the video can help build confidence for anyone anxious or unsure about what to expect particularly those often left out of traditional health messaging," claimed the Rainbow Project team.
Cancer Champion's project manager, Joe Henson, detailed the barriers trans and non-binary people face when accessing screenings. "From GP records excluding us from automated recall systems, to dysphoria, healthcare anxiety, and a lack of gender-affirming environments. This video is just the start of changing that," Joe said. "Our project aims to remove those barriers for the whole LGBTQIA+ community."
Macmillan's chief medical officer, Richard Simcock, added: "We know that Trans and Non-Binary people's access to Breast Screening is affected by a range of complex issues and barriers. From screening and diagnosis, through to treatment and support, it is essential that Trans and Non-Binary people get the care they need and are entitled to. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, deserves to access the best care possible".
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The Rainbow Project CEO, Scott Cuthbertson, described the video as showing "what healthcare can look like when it is co-designed with the people it serves". He also shared that it was by working with trans people the pride he felt in being able to give "an often-marginalised community a sense of ownership over their care and help them feel more able to access the support that they need."
Their hope is to "increasing uptake of testing and early detection."
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Daily Mirror
15 hours ago
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‘I was told I had months to live at 33 but now I'm 75 and living with the virus'
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He recalled the days leading up to his diagnosis and how he felt as though every single lymph node in his body had started to grow. After silently struggling with his mobility, Jonathan booked himself in with a GP. It was then that he was sent to hospital, where they did a biopsy and he was left waiting for a few long days. He shared: 'Two days later they came back, having done the biopsy, and they'd given me this news, that I had this virus, with three to nine months to live, and palliative care was available when the time comes. And then, after having been completely floored, they said that I could go home.' 'I mean, it was really frightening", he continued. "And I just decided that what was in front of me was actually so horrendous that I was going to take my own life, but I didn't know quite how I was going to do it…' The tragic diagnosis sent him, at just 33, into isolation. The lack of information around HIV at the time meant he feared passing the virus on to others through the air. 'I would forever go to the gay bars in the East End because I needed to be with people," he said. "But I would stand in the darkest corner and send out all the vibes to say 'don't come near me people' because what are you going to say? I felt like a modern-day leper because I just assumed that it was airborne. You know, it was never explained that the only way you can pass it on is by blood and fluids, none of that.' It was when he was at his very rock bottom that Jonathan found hope in a group of like-minded people where 'everyone was welcome'. With an interest in activism and politics he spotted a tiny advert in a magazine called Capital Gay in 1983 calling on people to join the Gays For a Nuclear-Free Future in a CND campaign. He said: 'I just thought, this is going to be my re-entry into society. 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Living with HIV has opened up so many doors for Jonathan in a world that once felt so isolating to him. Alongside his part in Pride, he has been able to share insight for other documentary films, theatre performances, and written works, as well as attending talks. With endless amounts of stories to share, he is always keen to embrace , educate and connect with people through the virus that he was once told would be the end of it all.
Leader Live
16 hours ago
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MS for Delyn provides several updates in this weeks column
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NBC News
a day ago
- NBC News
U.S.-born Asian Americans no longer the healthiest group among older adults
For the first time in two decades, older Asian Americans are no longer the healthiest U.S.-born aging racial group with the lowest rates of disability, according to a study published last month in the Journals of Gerontology. The report focused on adults aged 50 and older, and used disability prevalence as an indicator for overall health. The paper shows that while disability rates have decreased among aging adults in every racial group, it's remained unchanged among U.S.-born Asian Americans. The findings suggest that one contributor to the stagnating disability rate is income inequality, which has impacted Asian Americans more than any other group in recent years. Previous research had shown that both foreign-born and U.S.-born Asian older adults had lower mortality and disability rates than their counterparts in other racial groups. According to the new report, non-Hispanic white Americans have overtaken Asians Americans as the healthiest U.S.-born population, with the lowest disability prevalence. 'This study shows that the 'model minority' stereotype is wrong about the overall experience of U.S.-born older Asians in terms of health,' said lead author Leafia Ye, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Toronto. The report is the first to focus solely on the health of U.S.-born Asians, a group that experts say has been understudied due to its limited population size. The study drew on data from the American Community Survey, which has a sample size of more than 18 million U.S.-born adults aged 50 and older. The sample size for U.S.-born Asians is roughly 116,000, Ye said. The study authors defined disability as any chronic physical or mental health condition that limits an older adult's self-care or independent living capacity, which includes carrying out tasks like eating, bathing and grocery-shopping without assistance. Two decades ago, just 5.5% of U.S.-born Asian elders had trouble living independently — compared with 7% of white and 14% of Black elders. From 2005 to 2022, the report found, disability rates fell by at least 2% among U.S.-born non-Hispanic white, Black, Hispanic and Indigenous populations, as well as all foreign-born groups. (Black older adults experienced the largest drop from 14% to 10%.) Among native-born older Asian Americans, however, the rate has stayed at 5.5%. Ye said the trends preceded the Covid-19 pandemic, so it's unlikely that rising anti-Asian racism was a key risk factor. 'What's striking about this study is that U.S.-born Asians are the only group that hasn't experienced improved outcomes,' said Mansha Mirza, principal investigator at the Aging Services Inclusive of Asian American Networks, a national technical assistance and resource development center focused on Asian Americans older adults. Mirza was not involved with the new study. The trend could be attributed to the fact that U.S.-born Asians 'are more assimilated into the American way of life,' Mirza said, while foreign-born Asians were more likely to 'retain practices from their home countries related to nutrition and diet.' Disability prevalence varies across the racial group. Cognitive disability is more prevalent in Vietnamese, Filipino and Japanese older adults, according to a 2024 paper in Innovation in Aging. For self-care disability, on the other hand, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino and Indian older adults have a higher prevalence. In the past, older Asian Americans have had better health outcomes than other groups because the large majority were foreign-born, Ye said. People with poorer health and lower socioeconomic status were less likely to resettle in another country, she said, so Asian immigrants became a 'very positively selected' group that's 'healthier and more successful economically compared with both the source and the destination populations.' By contrast, Ye said, U.S.-born Asians were immediately exposed to the country's cultural and political realities. Socioeconomic status has a particularly strong influence on health outcomes, as college-educated older Asian Americans saw a slight decline in disability, while those without a degree saw an increase. While the data didn't contain mental health measures, like loneliness and anxiety, Ye said it's possible that these conditions could have also contributed to stagnating health outcomes. 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