6 Ways to Observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month—the perfect time to make preventive screenings a top business imperative.

And this year, it’s more important than ever. An alarming number of individuals have skipped their breast cancer screenings over the past two years, and your employees might be among that number.

Here are six creative ways you can observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month and get everyone in your company on board with making breast health and breast cancer awareness a priority.

The reason mammograms are effective screening tests for breast cancer is because they allow doctors to compare scans from test to test—ideally, year to year.

That’s tough to do when there isn’t enough data to compare. Not only that, certain types of breast cancer grow quickly—some even in a matter of months. Ask any doctor, and they will tell you that if there is a screening available for a deadly disease, schedule it!

A few more stats to build your business case:

• About 13% of individuals in the U.S. get an invasive breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.
• Experts are predicting 281,550 new invasive breast cancer cases in women and 2,650 new invasive breast cancer cases in men this year alone.
• Breast cancer hit an all-time high milestone in recent years, and it’s now the most common cancer in the world.

If your organization doesn’t already have breast cancer screening resources for employees, there’s no time like the present. Leverage your wellness platform, email, social channels, and internal workforce comms to make it happen. Share links that explain the difference between 2-D and 3-D mammograms, ultrasounds, and other more advanced screenings. Find guest speakers and encourage people to share their stories if they’re comfortable.

The more informed people are about breast cancer screenings, the better-armed they are for earlier detection and treatment.

At some point, one or more of your employees may have to sit in a doctor’s office and hear the “C” word.

Their understandable response will be shock, fear, confusion, anger, sadness, and possibly panic. And among that response will be the question, “Am I covered for this?”

Instead of adding to their stress by making them dig around for information, support your employees by providing access to updated and clear information right in your wellness platform (a cancer care resources page is a helpful one-stop shop.) That way, employees can easily find out what’s covered, what’s not, and how best to deal with their diagnosis.

When people think of breast cancer, they immediately think of women. But men can be diagnosed as well, not to mention nonbinary people and trans men. If there’s breast tissue, there can be breast cancer, regardless of gender.

This is just one of many reasons why employee education is so important. You may have an entire segment of employees who think breast cancer isn’t something they need to think about.

To make sure employees can find information and ask questions, why not bring back the lunch-and-learn? These informal sessions work great with in-person or remote staff arrangements, and employees can submit questions anonymously beforehand to make sure questions get asked and answered. Plus, these events give you the opportunity to bring experts to your employees so they can learn about the latest research and other breast cancer-related subjects.

Topics can include:

• How to support friends with breast cancer
• Misconceptions and myths about mammograms
• Recognizing the signs of breast cancer
• Lunch with a breast cancer survivor

If you’re time-crunched, don’t feel like you have to limit these to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Anything you do at any point of the year to remind employees about preventive care will make a difference.

With October falling in the midst of open enrollment season, you and your employees are understandably overwhelmed, frustrated, cooped up, and worried about what the coming weeks and months will bring. Employee mental health struggles are more pronounced than ever, but fortunately, there’s a great (and free) way to boost wellbeing—volunteering.

A 2020 study of 70,000 subjects in the United Kingdom confirmed that people who volunteer once a month report better mental health than those who volunteer infrequently or not at all. Unite your employees in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month by creating challenges where employees participate in one or more volunteer projects to help cancer patients.

Whether you choose a single project, allow employees to choose their own, or encourage participation in multiple projects, here are some ideas:

Assemble National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) HOPE Kits

HOPE Kits are like hugs in a box. Patients receive care packages with items like socks to keep their feet warm during chemotherapy treatments, lotions for the neuropathy most patients experience in their hands and feet, lip balm for chapped lips from various treatments, journals, bracelets, and more.

Write Letters to Breast Cancer Patients

Who doesn’t love a handwritten letter? A letter writing campaign to employees or their families who are struggling with breast cancer is a great way to provide encouragement and a reminder that your entire team is rooting for recovery. These letters can provide a welcome boost anytime patients are feeling low.

As an alternative to sending letters, create an online honor chat for employees dealing with breast cancer. Let employees tag them and post encouraging messages to keep them focused on their health.

You know that annual anchor challenge you keep talking about? How about combining it with a breast cancer research fundraiser?

Whether it’s the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure or your own curated event, this is a great way to bring employees together for a great cause. Employees can create teams and proceeds can go toward scientific research to cure breast cancer.

We’ve covered plenty of helpful, actionable things your company can do to boost breast cancer awareness, screenings, and support among employees.

But what about beyond your own organization? Pink ribbons, banners, and other public displays of support and awareness introduce important conversations about breast health, but one smart move is to liaise with your marketing team to design social media promotions and other outreach initiatives. Combine the attention-grabbing power of the pink ribbon with helpful information and advice from your organization to turn simple awareness into true action.

The point of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is not just to raise awareness, but to spotlight the mothers, cousins, friends, family members, and co-workers whose lives are affected by breast cancer.

By using your corporate wellness program to help your staff book screenings, stay informed about options, and support each other, you can make a real difference this month and every month.