Advance Diversity Services (ADS) in partnership with NSW Health, not only helped create in language resources to encourage health screening for their emerging Bangladeshi and Nepalese communities \u2013 they also choreographed a new dance to reinforce the message that \u2018taking care of yourself is the best way to take care of your family\u2019.<\/p>\n
Screening Saves Lives is a collection of video and print resources in community languages, including Bengali and Nepali, to show women and families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities how easy it is to participate in cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening. These resources were launched at the Screening Saves Lives event on April 8.<\/p>\n
The Living a Life dance was performed by three generations of Nepalese women – the Nepalese children\u2019s cultural dance group, their mothers and their grandmothers.\u00a0 This intergenerational dance explores the experience of being a migrant woman, and integrates this with the universal experiences of joy, happiness, relationships, identity, loss and adventure.\u00a0 It features a vibrant mix of facial expressions and dance moves.\u00a0 It was choreographed and directed by the talented Anjeela BK (dance instructor at ADS) and Merry Manadhar (dancer and active volunteer at ADS), with the support Gaya Dharmagesan of the Women\u2019s Health program in the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. A Bangladeshi children\u2019s dance group also performed at the event.<\/p>\n
Magdaline Shenton-Kaleido, Team Leader for Emerging Communities at ADS, said that Screening Saves Lives\u2019 partners incorporated dancing into the launch because arts programs and activities had been shown to make significant contributions to health outcomes, and encouraging participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NSW Government\u2019s Health and the Arts Framework supports an arts- and culture-based approach to health promotion,\u201d she said. \u201cIn this case, we believed the Nepalese and Bangladeshi dances would augment the project\u2019s message that by participating in breast and cervical health checks, women can improve their chances of living a long and healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Screening Saves Lives received funding support from the Cancer Institute NSW. Project partners included South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Priority Populations Unit, Central and Eastern Sydney PHN (CESPHN) and Advance Diversity Services. \u00a0Importantly, Bengali and Nepali speaking community members assisted in co-designing and developing the resources.<\/p>\n
Find the resources here:<\/p>\n
Screening Saves Lives – South Asian Community in English<\/p>\n