Increasing cancer screening participation for people with disability: the role of a GP

International and Australian data indicates that people with disability are under-screened for cancer.¹

General practice plays an important role in enabling people with disability to participate in breast, bowel and cervical cancer screening programs.

Consultation with GPs as part of a joint project between BreastScreen Victoria and Cancer Council Victoria has found that GPs often do not discuss cancer screening with patients who have disability, and that GP clinic infrastructure often acts as a barrier to accessing the screening procedure for people with disability.

These discussions led to the development of a suite of resources which aim to increase cancer screening participation in people with disability. The resources do this by helping GPs to determine suitability for cancer screening in patients with disability, as well as providing information on how to overcome common barriers to cancer screening including appropriate pathways.

The following recommendations apply to bowel, cervical and breast screening programs:

• Consider other screening options e.g. self-collected Cervical Screening Test and/or assisted self-collected Cervical Screening Test
• Include cancer screening in the patient’s health care plan, for example in an annual CHAP (Comprehensive Health Assessment Program) assessment for people with intellectual disability
• Talk directly to the patient rather than to a family member or support worker
• Provide resources in plain language and other accessible formats, such as large print or video

A complete set of recommendations is provided on Cancer screening for people with disabilities: guide for general practice. The recommendations ensure that GPs understand the full breadth of considerations and can perform an accurate assessment on whether cancer screening is the most appropriate outcome.

Information in a range of formats (e.g. booklets in plain language, Easy English and large print) are also available to help engage people with disability in cancer screening programs. They cover the topics of breast, bowel and cervical screening, as well as colonoscopy and colposcopy.

A great example of how you can tailor information to your target audience

Down Syndrome Victoria (DSV) was funded by Cancer Council Victoria in 2024–25 to work with people with Down syndrome to promote cancer screening. DSV co-designed and co-delivered bowel and cervical screening content to people with Down syndrome and their families, adapting the material to meet the needs of the audience. 

View the tailored resources and videos

^{1. Floud S, Barnes I, Verfürden M, Kuper H, Gathani T, Blanks RG, Alison R, Patnick J, Beral V, Green J et al. Disability and participation in breast and bowel cancer screening in England: a large prospective study. Br. J. Cancer (Internet) 2017 (cited 2019 Aug 16);117(11):1711. Available from: https://www.nature.com/article... / DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2017.331}