Illiap Paanganik Qaujisarniq: Adapting Cervical Cancer Screening Strategies for Inuit Women of Nunavik
Description: Among the Canadian Inuit population, the occurrence and mortality associated with cervical cancer(CC)are higher than the national average. These high rates have led to rising concerns about current CC screening methods. Women in Canada are about to face a radical transition in the provision of cervical cancer prevention, as the current, well-known Papanicolau "Pap test" will be replaced by the new human papillomavirus (HPV) test. Research has demonstrated that the sexually transmitted HPV is the necessary cause of CC, which led to the development of this new cervical cancer screening test, more effective than the Pap test in detecting pre-cancerous lesions. Access to screening may be improved through an innovative HPV self-sampling technique, where women can collect their own cell samples. Self-collected sampling addresses many of the current barriers around screening and improves participation of women who are most at risk for CC. Through community-led collaboration, our goal is to increase participation in CC screening in Nunavik by raising awareness of the importance of CC screening in women as they age, and by implementing a pilot screening program that is based on HPV self-sampling. To do so, we want to evaluate the effectiveness of self-sampling for integration into existing public health and clinical service systems in Nunavik. Combining the perspectives of Inuit women and their service providers we defined the best implementation strategies, barriers and facilitators, as well as ways to monitor the process in terms of appropriateness, feasibility, cost, coverage and sustainability. Established evaluation and implementation frameworks will be used to guide the implementation evaluation. We have formed an Advisory Committee who will be our guide in evaluating the process and results from this implementation strategy, in order to produce a scale-up plan for all Nunavik communities, and to be presented to the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.
Amount: CA$465,700
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Team Grant: Transitions in Care - Stream 1 - PHSI solutions for transitions in care gaps
Start date: 2019-04-01
End date: 2022-03-31
Investigator: Paul Brassard
Institution: CIUSSS de Centre-Ouest-de-l'Ile-de-Montreal-Jewish General
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Funded outputs count: 1
Funder award ID: 165727_1
OpenAlex ID: G5689198327