Spread Awareness About Breast Cancer: 1 Week Program | How-To Tips

11 Oct Spread Awareness About Breast Cancer: 1 Week Program | How-To Tips

Do you know, every 2 minutes a female is diagnosed with breast cancer?

These women could be anyone; your grandmother, your mother, sister, daughter, wife, or you.

This is sad and horrific but equally true.

The percentage of women getting diagnosed with breast cancer has increased in the past few years. It’s both alarming and relaxing. Alarming because the health condition of women is deteriorating and relaxing because it’s a sign that women are finally taking early steps to get it treated.

However, there is a lot we still need to do!

You might know October is breast cancer awareness month. You might think raising awareness about a life-threatening disease mustn’t be restricted to a month.

True that! 

However, there’s no denying, it can be of great help in attracting the attention of more people. Take this opportunity to help spread breast cancer awareness information.

If you want to contribute but haven’t thought of any ways on how to spread awareness about breast cancer, give a quick go-through to this blog.

How to Spread Awareness About Breast Cancer? [Campaigns and Event Ideas]

Since 1985, every October, millions of people come together to increase awareness about breast cancer—an illness that kills nearly 41,000 women every year.

It fills our hearts with hope and love when we see pink ribbons on different platforms and events. But is there anything else we can do to spread breast cancer awareness messages?

Of course, we can!

There are a lot of cancer awareness event ideas, and most of them don’t require a huge budget.

Take a look at some of the doable breast cancer awareness tips:

1. Get informed about breast cancer
2. Spread awareness about the risk factors 
3. Schedule a Mammogram 
4. Make your loved ones aware about the breast self-awareness exams
5. Share a survivor’s story
6. Organize fundraisers
7. Create a bulletin board
8. Take part in the regional and national awareness programs

Breast cancer doesn’t only affect a woman; it affects her children and her family too. In fact, men can also suffer. 

In light of how many families have to go through this, Horizon Clinics wants to contribute and help you learn how to spread Breast Cancer Awareness so that we can save our loved ones before it’s too late.

Here’s how you can take actionable steps. 

#1. Learn About Breast Cancer 

The first and foremost thing to do is educating yourself about breast cancer. Accurate information can help detect the signs of breast cancer and assist in its early treatment as well. Stay updated and seek information from different trusted sources.

After collecting the information, the next big thing you can do is share it in your community. Once you have the information, start conversations about it.

You can talk about it with your friends and family. You can share the blog links or simply text them about the disease.

#2. Educate About the Risk Factors of Breast Cancer

The second best thing that can actually save you and your loved ones from this tragedy is learning about its risk factors. According to the American Cancer Society, some of the risk factors that can increase the chances of breast cancer are:

1. Obesity
2. Lack of physical activity
3. Family history of breast cancer and genetics
4. Hormone therapy after menopause
5. Excessive alcoholic drinks
6. Being pregnant for the first time after the age of 30
7. Breastfeeding for 1 year or less
8. Caucasian ethnicity
9. African-American women usually have aggressive breast cancer at a young age

Note: 1 in 833 biological men can also get diagnosed with breast cancer.

#3. Schedule a Mammogram for Your Family

It is still hard for some women to accept that breast cancer is actually life-threatening. While some are ignorant, others are shy about taking the test.

In such a case, you can schedule a mammogram for your friends and family. The American Association and the National Cancer Institute recommend you get a mammogram every year if you’re 40 years and above.

A mammogram is an X-ray of your breast. Take the opportunity of breast cancer awareness month to schedule it for you and your family.

#4. Talk About Breast Self-Awareness Exams 

A self-breast examination can help detect any early signs of cancer. This can help you get the treatment on time and you can dodge the risk. Notably, not many people know how to do breast self-awareness exams.

So, first off, here’s how to do breast self-examination:

Step 1: Take both of your hands above and keep the palm over the head.

Step 2: Now take the left hand down and slowly touch your right breast with the tip of the middle 3 fingers.

Step 3: Now slowly put pressure and rotate your fingers all over the breast.

Step 4: Next, do the same with your nipples.

Step 5: Repeat the same process with your left breast.

Note: Take off your bra at least 10 minutes before doing this to relax your muscles.

Do this self-breast examination frequently and report any changes you notice to your doctor. Some of the changes you might witness are:

• Lumps or Masses in the breast
• Overall swelling of the breast
• Change in color of the breast
• Nipple retraction
• Discharge of bodily fluid from the nipple

If you notice any of these changes, meet your doctor without any delay. Don’t forget to make your friends aware about the breast-self examination in case they don’t know.

People Also Read: Why do young females get breast cancer?

#5. Share a Survivor’s Story

Sharing breast cancer survivors’ stories is a great way to make others take part in the breast cancer awareness program. It can also motivate them to go through their own check-up as well.

If any of your family members or friends have survived breast cancer or have a near-breast cancer experience, sharing their stories would be great.

My mother’s near breast cancer (thankfully she didn’t have this disease) experience educated me a lot about the importance of early examination, and I passed the information to my friends and then to their family members.

You can do it too!

You can also involve and honor them into your breast cancer awareness campaign and tell them to talk about their whole experience. Just make them actually want to talk about it for some might not be comfortable recalling such a painful phase.

#6. Organize a Fundraising Event

A fundraising event is one effective way to spread awareness about breast cancer. You can do it in your locality, school, college, or even at a workplace.

People sometimes feel so skeptical that their donation might not be used for the said cause (You can’t blame them, it actually happens).

To get through this issue, you can collaborate with organizations that help women dealing with breast cancer. You can request them to do the donations directly.

Organize a “bra art auction” or “pink runway” to make it more interesting. Since it’s in the month of October, you can also mix it up with Halloween activities like “polish pink pumpkins”.

#7. Decorate a Bulletin Board

This is among the best cancer awareness activities for students. They can decorate the bulletin board with different articles, art and craft, and survivor stories.

To make it more creative and engaging, they can also encourage others to add some statistics and include notes for survivors.

The bulletin board idea is also great for the workplace. It doesn’t require any extravagant preparations and can be easily done without much effort.

#8. Get Involved in the National and Regional Breast Cancer Awareness Program

If you’re unable to organize any event on your own, take part in national and regional cancer awareness events.

These events not only raise money but also look after some patients who don’t have anyone to support them. You can volunteer in local entities like hospitals, churches, and groups to support women fighting breast cancer.

One more thing you should do is spread the word and tell others about such events and groups.

It’s a great way to make people learn more about the disease and how it affects life. If you’re ready to do your part, get your calendar ready!

Trust me, you’ll feel good at the end of all this!

People often hesitate to take part in such programs due to lack of time and resources. Well, if you think about it, it’s just about a week of activities, and you don’t have to do everything on the list. Taking part in even 2-3 activities will have an impact, however small it may be.

It’s crucial to take steps now more than ever when the cases of breast cancer are on the rise. 

Why is It Important to Raise Awareness for Breast Cancer?

Some of the following facts might make you realize how imperative it is to be aware and get diagnosed early.

1. Breast cancer has no cure and only its early detection can prevent it from spreading to other parts. About 50% of breast cancer cases are in senior women who are above 60 years. 
2. Around 15% of the women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease. 
3. Every 1 in 8 women will get diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. 
4. Every 13 minutes a family loses a member to breast cancer. 
5. At present, there are nearly 3.3 million breast cancer survivors in the US. 

Taking part in an awareness program can make a positive change in these horrific statistics. If this doesn’t motivate you to spread awareness about breast cancer, what will?

Spread the Word

No health issue is easy to fight; however, considering the lack of awareness and treatment about breast cancer, one can give it the deserved attention.

How you spread awareness about breast cancer isn’t just restricted to the above-mentioned ways. These campaigns, events, and programs need to be light-hearted and not a compulsion.

Everyone needs to understand the importance of breast cancer awareness and aim to educate people about it. Please support us and spread the word by sharing this blog.

You can also let us know how you are going to make people aware of breast cancer in the comment section below.

By making people aware, you are saving lives in some way or the other!