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St. Pius Church
429 Ocean Ave.
Portland, Maine
-Held on the 1st Wednesday of each month,
from October to June, 9:45 AM to 11:15 AM.
If you have a club, workplace, or church group that is interested in having a speaker come and discuss:
Please e-mail or call Chriss Hayden at 874-8942.
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Breast and Cervical Health & The Women First Coalition |
| Cancer Prevention Program | |
| Cardiovascular Health | |
| Skin Cancer Prevention |
In partnership with the Maine Cancer Consortium and the Healthy Maine Partnership, the Cancer Prevention Program here at the Public Health Division provides educational sessions and exhibits to community agencies, worksites, park and recreation departments, hospitals and providers, to increase awareness about skin and colorectal cancers. The program also provides information about the availability of screenings in the community.
The Breast and Cervical Health Program and The Women First Coalition
The Breast and Cervical Health Program provides free mammograms and pap tests to those who qualify. For more information about the program and to see if you qualify for these free screenings please call 1-800-350-5180.
The Breast and Cervical Health Program also sponsors the activities of the Women First Coalition whose mission is to reduce breast and cervical cancer mortality in Greater Portland and the surrounding rural region. The Coalition is responsible for raising awareness through education and by increasing access to breast and cervical cancer screening services including mammography, clinical breast exams, pelvic exams and pap test. The Coalition includes 21 member agencies representing health care providers, women's organizations, grassroots organizations, housing, and senior citizens.
These 21 members work together help coordinate services, provide linkages, and reduce barriers to breast and cervical health services by conducting outreach and education to women. The focus of the coalition’s resources is on women over 40, women of low income and those who live in rural areas.
Screening Guidelines for Breast and Cervical Health*:
| Women Age 20 - 40 | Annual pap test and breast exam Monthly breast self exam |
| Women Over the Age of 40 | Monthly breast self exam Annual mammogram |
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*From the American Cancer Society |
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Early detection and screening information for breast cancer from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Skin Cancer Prevention
Working in collaboration with the Maine Cancer Consortium, the
American Cancer Society and the Melanoma Foundation of New England,
the Public Health Division’s goal is to reduce the risk of skin cancer
through sun safety.
We work with hospitals to increase the proportion of new parents who
are aware of the dangers of sun exposure to newborns and the proper
ways to protect their babies from sun exposure. We help the Portland
Parks and Recreation Department, as well as other municipalities in
Cumberland County, to improve sun protection policies/guidelines for
youth who participate in summer camp programs. Also, we work to
increase community awareness of the dangers of unprotected sun
exposure by giving presentations and/or displaying exhibits throughout
the community and in schools.
Each year we join with the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team to promote a “Protect the Skin You’re In” Day at Hadlock Field during a regular season game. On this day all the attendees receive free sunscreen and learn tips on sun safety from ‘Slugger’, the Sea Dogs mascot.
Below are several useful guides, created by the Portland Public Health Division, and websites about sun safety:
Sun safety for ME brochure - This brochure outlines many sun safety tips and skin cancer facts that affect the entire family.
‘No Sun for Baby’ Guide - This guide is geared towards coordinators hoping to start a ‘No Sun for Baby’ program of their own. Take a look at this guide for useful information about sun safety for infants, as well as a pattern to make your baby its own hat to wear outdoors.
Portland Parks and Recreation Sun Protection Guide - This is the same guide that the Portland Parks and Recreation Department uses to educate participants in their summer camps. See this guide for simple and concise sun safety guidelines you can follow.
www.mfne.org
www.shadefoundation.org
www.skincancer.org
www.epa.gov/sunwise
A Model Community Skin Cancer Prevention Project in Maine
The purpose of this program was to create and test a community skin cancer prevention model for replication throughout the state of Maine. The project was a collaborative effort of the Maine Cancer Consortium, American Cancer Society (ACS), and the City of Portland, Health and Human Services Department, Public Health Division. The City of Portland served as the pilot site for this project. This project is described in detail here: www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2004/apr/03_0032.htm
In collaboration with the Healthy Maine Partnerships, the Cardiovascular Health Project is working to increase awareness about the signs and symptoms of heart disease and stroke, and the importance of calling 911 at the first sign of any of those symptoms.
In partnership with the American Heart Association the project sponsors Go Red events during the month of February and on Go Red Day, which is February 1st. The project also provides blood pressure screenings, during the month of February, for City of Portland employees.
The Cardiovascular Health Project also supports free blood pressure clinics at Saint Pius church from September through June. For more information about these clinics please see the top of this page.
To learn more about the signs and symptoms of heart disease check out these
websites:
www.mainecardiohealth.org
www.americanheart.org
www.goredforwomen.org
www.healthymainepartnerships.org/mcvhp/index.aspx
‘Know Your Numbers’ report card – This ‘report card’ gives you the normal levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides for women.
This information gathered and presented by the Health Promotions Program. If you have any questions about the programs featured on this page please contact Chriss Hayden at 874-8942.