Background: Women with disabilities are less likely to be screened and are more likely to present with later stage disease and carry higher breast cancer mortality than the general population. Women with disabilities may experience challenges accessing breast imaging services, and imaging centers may have suboptimal facilities and staff who are inexperienced in caring for this population. To date, there exists no comprehensive guidance on how to improve breast cancer screening programs for women with disabilities. Many barriers to access for women with disabilities are easily addressable. Targeted improvement efforts can optimize the breast imaging experience and reduce breast cancer disparities for these women.
Learning Objectives: 1. Review barriers to screening faced by patients with disabilities. 2. Describe strategies to overcome these barriers. 3. Provide guidance for radiologists and referring providers in selecting the best exam for the individual patient.
Abstract Content/Results: The educational exhibit will present strategies to optimize breast imaging care through seven clinical scenarios commonly encountered in the Breast Imaging Clinic. The clinical scenarios will emphasize important aspects of the breast imaging encounter including scheduling and pre-appointment preparation for patients with disabilities, providing educational material, clinical workflows and patient-centered approach, technologist training, screening options for patients unlikely to tolerate standard mammography, and breast imaging modalities and interventions in patients with disabilities.
Conclusion: With coordinated effort, patients with disabilities can successfully undergo breast imaging including cancer screening, diagnostic work-ups and biopsies. Counseling patients about the benefits of screening while at the same time providing clear explanations about what they can expect during their exams will go far to improve the breast imaging experience. Ensuring disabilities and impairments are identified and planned for prior to patient arrival can improve patient perception of care and potentially improve their opinions about breast cancer screening. When conventional screening is not possible, clear communication with the patient, caretakers, and referring providers will help in planning for screening in the future. Through focused efforts to optimize the breast imaging experience in caring for patients of all abilities, breast imaging centers can help to improve breast cancer disparities in women with disabilities.
