Effectiveness of Community-Based Intervention on Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness, Screening Practice and Screening Uptake, among Rural Women in selected districts of West Bengal: A Mixed Method Approach

This is a mixed-method study to assess the Effectiveness of Community-Based Intervention on Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness, Screening Practice, and Screening Uptake, among Rural Women in selected districts of West Bengal. In the qualitative phase, Focus Group Discussion(FGD) will be done among the community health workers and rural women separately to identify barriers and facilitators of breast and cervical cancer screening. A total of 6-8 FGDs is planned. Based on the facilitators and barriers, a community-based intervention will be developed. Before the implementation of the community-based intervention, rural women will be assessed for awareness, screening practice, and screening uptake of breast and cervical cancer. Awareness will be assessed using the AWACAN (Standardized Tool), and practice will be evaluated using a checklist. The community-based intervention will be implemented for the sample through an awareness camp, by distributing teaching materials in the local language. One to interaction after the community-based intervention, awareness, screening practice, and screening uptake will be assessed to identify the effect of the Community-Based Intervention at one month and  3 months. To assess the screening uptake, medical records of the women will be checked for the Clinical Breast Examination(CBE), and mammography for breast cancer screening, and Visual Inspection (VIA) and Pap smear for cervical cancer screening up to one year. These screening tests the women will do for screening as per their age requirement.