Women First: Breast Health for Women with Developmental Disabilities

Kristen Arbuckle, Wyoming Institute for Disabilities
Josef Buchanan, Wyoming Institute for Disabilities
Michelle Armstrong, Wyoming Institute for Disabilities

Abstract

Women First: Breast Health for Women with Developmental Disabilities handbook was created with funding from the Wyoming Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and was designed to provide women with developmental disabilities basic information about breast health.

The Women First handbook is part of a larger Komen funded project managed by the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND), designed to make information about breast health for women with disabilities more accessible. As a part of this project many new materials dealing with health issues for women with disabilities were added to the WIND Resource Library. Additionally, an annotated bibliography was created to assist in learning more about this important topic.

It is hoped that this handbook will serve as a tool to assist self-advocates, family members, friends, and health care providers in working together to provide breast health services for all women.

The handbook has been designed to be placed in a notebook which may also serve as a single storage place for health care information for the individual. The calendar included can be used to track monthly self exams and yearly visits with their personal health care provider. Additionally, the calendar can be photocopied and reused on an annual basis.