Community organizations offer free colorectal cancer screenings
On Saturday, local organizations will host a screening and education event for people in the Rome community who are medically underserved, uninsured or underinsured.
The event will be held at the Charles Hight Building courtyard of the Rome Housing Authority from 10 a.m. to noon. Members of the Northwest Georgia Regional Cancer Coalition and Adventhealth Redmond will provide convenient and discreet screenings, for the fourth year in a row.
“We want to continue to raise awareness and provide everyone in our community the opportunity to get screened,” said Terrence Hight, director of outpatient services at Adventhealth Redmond.
Offering low- and no-cost preventative cancer screenings improves access to needed tests and follow-up care and supplies a direct link to health care providers providing treatment. The NWGRCC also utilizes screening coordinators and community health workers to engage and help navigate community members through the process, providing culturally appropriate information to increase awareness and understanding of the screening, identifying individual barriers screening completion and follow-up care and facilitating access to services and resources needed to overcome their barriers to care.
The guidelines for free kit include: individuals age 45 and older who have not had a colonoscopy in last five years; individuals in high-risk categories such as personal or strong family history of colorectal cancer or colon polyps; Black males with family history of colorectal cancer; and individuals with a history of inflammatory bowel disease.