It’s Time to Get Screened for Cancer: The Screen for Life Coach is On Its Way

It’s time to get screened for cancer! The Screen for Life Coach is beginning its travels across Northwestern Ontario this month.

The Screen for Life Coach (Coach) is a mobile cancer screening bus that will deliver breast, cervical and colon cancer screening services to more than 30 locations across the region between April and October. The first stop will be in Dryden at the Dryden Regional Health Centre on April 8.

“The Coach provides an excellent opportunity for those who do not have screening services available in their community,” explains Vanessa Masters, Mobile Coach Coordinator at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “For communities in Northwestern Ontario, getting to the nearest cancer screening site for an appointment may mean long travel times. To help address this barrier, the Screen for Life Coach travels extensively throughout the region, bringing these services closer to home.”

Cancer screening is important as it detects pre-cancerous changes or cancer at an early stage when there is a better chance of treating it successfully.

Who should get screened?

Anyone who is eligible for breast, cervical or colon cancer screening can visit the Coach.

In Ontario, the screening guidelines for average risk individuals are as follows:

• Women, Two-Spirit, trans and non-binary people ages of 50 and 74, should have a breast screening mammogram every two years.
• Anyone with a cervix between 25 and 69 years, who has ever been sexually active, should have a Pap test every three years.
• Individuals, between the ages of 50 and 74, who have no first-degree family history of colon cancer, should complete a take-home colon screening kit every two years.

Those who are eligible for screening can visit the Coach, even if they have a primary care provider. A referral is not required to access services on the Coach.

Where to find the Coach

The Coach travels to communities across Northwestern Ontario throughout the summer months and services the Thunder Bay area during the winter months. For a list of dates and locations where the Coach will be parked, visit www.tbrhsc.net/screenforlife.

How to make an appointment

A physician referral is not required. To book your breast, cervical or colon cancer screening appointment on the Screen for Life Coach call (807) 684-7777.