Accessible Mammography and Women with Disabilities: Outcomes from Ohio Statewide Trainings and Accessibility Assessments

One of the goals of the Ohio Disability and Health Program (ODHP) is to identify and reduce breast cancer screening barriers for women with disabilities. Approximately 22.7% of all women in Ohio have some type of disability and that rate increases as the population ages. In Ohio, 67.3% of women with disabilities age 40 and over have received a mammogram compared to 76.0% of women without disabilities. Acting on this identified disparity, ODHP has implemented trainings and technical assistance intended to improve the mammography screening experience for women with disabilities. ODHP hosted a training seminar for mammography technologists, which provided an opportunity to learn how to best serve women with various disabilities during a mammogram. Over 50 attendees from across the state received information on positioning strategies and panelists shared their personal experiences as well as tips for the audience. Technologists networked to share best practices when working with women with disabilities. In another effort to make the mammography experience better for women with disabilities, ODHP has also conducted mammography accessibility assessments throughout the state. The purpose of the accessibility assessments is to assist facilities to become as accessible and accommodating as possible for women with various types of disabilities, including physical accessibility and improving interaction and communication practices. Barriers identified will be examined in addition to the responsiveness of the mammography facilities to their assessment findings. Finally, ODHP collaborated with Ohio’s statewide comprehensive cancer control partnership, to add a goal on mammography accessibility to the statewide cancer control plan.