What Is BHAWD?

Founded by and for women with disabilities in 1995, with free clinical services since 1997, Breast Health Access for Women with Disabilities (BHAWD) fills a crucial role as a model for culturally appropriate and barrier-free health services.

BHAWD’s mission is to increase access to health information, health promotion screenings and early breast cancer detection for women with disabilities. The first program of its kind, BHAWD is a catalyst for accessible health services for a long overlooked population of women.

Goals & Services

BHAWD’s overarching goal is to promote optimal health for women with disabilities by reducing disparities in their timely access to breast health promotion and screening practices.

Pursuing this goal requires not only educating this growing population about the importance of adhering to current screening guidelines, but also reducing individual and community-based health care barriers to ensure that high quality health care services are available and financially, physically, culturally and linguistically accessible. It also necessitates an increased awareness among health care providers, and promoting activities and practices that lead to meet these challenges.

BHAWD continues to strengthen itself as a health program model for women with disabilities with an emphasis in four areas: clinical services, education and outreach (health care provider and client), public policy and advocacy, and research/evaluation. BHAWD’s services illustrate these four priority areas.

BHAWD:

• Offers free clinical breast exams, self-breast exam education and training and mammogram referral
• Conducts Quality/Cultural Competency Training and Technical Asssistance Program that includes adaptation to service delivery to health care providers and their staff
• Offers client educational programs on a variety of health management topics
• Provides continuing education accredited mammography training to technologists and imaging staff
• Conducts Mammography facility accessibility assessment
• Teaches women’s wellness training for women with cognitive/developmental disabilities
• Conducts ongoing research into breast screening rates, disparities and the prevalence of barriers
• Development of Publications
  Clinical Protocols: First of its kind educational tools designed for medical providers & adapted for women with disabilities. Includes Clinical Breast Examination, Mammography and Breast Self-Examination
  Provider Guide: Breast Health and Beyond: A Provider’s Guide to the Examination and Screening for Women with Disabilities - CMA approved home study course
  Instructional DVD: CE accredited mammography training module- Mammography for Women with Disabilities: Training for the Mammography Technologist
  Brochure: Breast Self-Examination A New Approach Especially Modified for Women with Physical or Sensory Limitations

BHAWD goals include:

• Eliminate barriers that prevent women with disabilities from obtaining timely and appropriate cancer screenings and other health promotion services
• Develop alternative clinical care techniques and protocols
• Conduct and participate in research projects that reduce health disparities for women with disabilities
• Develop, implement and disseminate curricula and training to health care professionals to promote access to quality health care services;
• Identify public policy issues that facilitate changes in state and national programs affecting health care services for people with disabilities.

For additional information, and/or to order our health education materials and professional educational modules please contact (510) 204-4866. Visit our web site at www.bhawd.org.