The Sistas Shawl Project responded to the cultural barriers of feeling embarrassed or shame during breast screening, by providing women with an incentive gift of a beautiful cultural shawl to provide modesty and wear during screening.
Working collaboratively with the Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team the Sistas Shawl Project utilised multiple strategies to meet our aims.
It addresses the barriers of providing a welcoming and culturally safe BreastScreen Service with the use of cultural artwork as murals in the breast screening rooms and on staff polo shirts. Combined with regular in-service cultural capability training for all staff the project aimed to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women accessing our service receive culturally appropriate and racism-free care.
The project built upon the learnings of the successful Cultural Shawl Project implemented at BreastScreen Queensland's (BSQ) Townsville Service. It was localised to the Brisbane Northside area with a collaboration between the BreastScreen Queensland Brisbane Northside Service and the Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team and was launched on 10 October 2022. The Project was funded by the Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team as a health equity initiative.
The project demonstrated its effectiveness and outcomes through the measurable achievements of an increased number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women having their breast screen (particularly first-time screeners) at BSQ Brisbane Northside and the high levels of acceptability indicated by qualitative evaluations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. It now continues as a collaborative strategy at the Brisbane Northside Service.
