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St. Vincent Healthcare's Women Reaching for Wellness Program
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 More than bras for Montana Native American Women
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When a women is diagnosed with cancer, she may experience several feelings; fear, anxiety, loss of control, anger, worry, devastation, even guilt. Often when a Native American woman living on a reservation hears that she has cancer, she not only deals with those feelings, but she deals with her diagnosis with little or no support in the community and most of the time she will not get quality care. She will also face many barriers in receiving cancer treatment and frequently will go through the treatment alone, hundreds of miles away from her family due to the vast rural locale of Montana reservations. When she returns to the reservation, there will most likely be no cancer support in her community.
The barriers these Native American women face are many, and they can have a devastating affect on their well being, especially those living on reservations. Mammography is only available on 2 of the 7 Montana Indian reservations. Consequently, many of these women must travel long distances, often 50 miles or more, to receive their annual mammogram. Additionally, Indian Health Service (IHS) clinics and hospitals are funded at approximately 60% of the health care need, meaning that 40% of all health care problems go untreated. This under-funding combined with the fact that many of the women have no private insurance, results in very unfavorable circumstances. For example, when a woman has an abnormal result on her mammogram she may not be able to get care until money is available through a new budget the following fiscal year. Early detection is the best defense against cancer and this delay in treatment can be detrimental to the health of our Native American women.
In the Native American language, there is no word for cancer. There is a cultural belief that if you speak of bad things (cancer), bad things will be brought upon you. Consequently, women who have been raised in a traditional Indian home can be unwilling to even discuss the topic of cancer. To overcome this barrier, the Women Reaching for Wellness Program spent many years providing educational workshops on the Montana reservations, teaching women about breast and cervical cancer. Over time the women became more comfortable talking about cancer and they began to discuss what they had heard at the workshops with their family and friends. Today, not only are they talking about cancer but they are taking the steps to stay healthy by receiving annual cancer screenings.
The Women Reaching for Wellness Program provides education and screening through funding from the Montana Breast and Cervical Health Program (MBCHP) and a grant from the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund. Our main focus is to assist American Indian women living on Montana reservations, between the ages of 50-64, to get a yearly mammogram. Our relationship with Ladies First has been so rewarding for the Native American women in Montana and it has made an impact not only in the lives of the women, but also in their communities. After receiving prosthesis and undergarments through Ladies First, these women's confidence starts coming back, their state of mind improves and they start feeling better about themselves. In their culture, when someone has shown you such graciousness and support it is their desire to give back in some way. Many times these women give back through their stories, by sharing their story with other women they continue the healing process, while encouraging other community women to take care of their own health through annual mammograms.
Native American women on all Montana reservations may call 1-800-708-7725 to see if they qualify for MBCHP. Assistance may be only a phone call away.
St. Vincent Healthcare's Women Reaching for Wellness Program Mission Statement
Being culturally sensitive to the various needs of underserved Montana Native American women, we, "The Women Reaching for Wellness Program of St. Vincent Healthcare," seek to celebrate wellness by providing breast and cervical health education and quality breast and cervical cancer screening services in a manner that is compassionate, sincere and reflective of the healing presence of Jesus.
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