An exhibit in Thunder Bay, Ont. is encouraging people to walk through a giant colon – all aimed at raising awareness about one of the most common cancers in Canada.
Colorectal cancer is highly preventable with early screening, and last month Ontario changed its routine colorectal cancer screening age from 50 to 45.
The exhibit, organized by the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, opened on Friday at Intercity Shopping Centre.
“It’s really just to bring attention and awareness to the public. The prevention and screening program with the hospital will be set up here for the next week during regular mall hours,” said Dr. Jordan Green, the Colorectal Cancer Screening Lead for northwestern Ontario.
The giant colon exhibit is a pink inflatable structure featuring visual displays and information about health issues related to the colon – all designed to educate people about colon health.
“We really want to highlight the fact that the province as of July 1st has lowered the age range from 50 for average screening down to 45. So we’re really trying to promote screening in that 45 to 50 age group because they’ve not been captured for colon cancer screening before,” said Green.
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Dr. Jordan Green stands in front of the Giant Colon exhibit, aimed at bringing awareness to one of the most common cancers in the country and how to prevent it. (Tina Mackenzie/CBC)
She mentioned a worrying trend they’ve noticed among patients under 50 showing a quicker increase in colon cancer cases, while rates are declining among those aged 50 to 74 across most developed nations.
“People don’t think about their colon health until something is wrong, but the best time to screen is when you feel perfectly healthy,” said Tarja Heiskanen, manager of prevention and screening clinical services at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC).
“The Giant Colon gives us a unique opportunity to bring screening information to life and have conversations about colon cancer in a way that feels more approachable.”
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The Giant Colon is a walk-through exhibit aimed at bringing awareness about colon health. (Tina Mackenzie/CBC)
Since opening, Green noted it’s great how much attention it’s attracting, encouraging folks to learn more about something that can be prevented.
“I’ve already had about 10 people coming to me asking me questions about colon cancer screening [since setting up]. So I think I’m really expecting a high level of engagement, which is exactly what we want.”
Green acknowledged it’s normal for people to feel shy or anxious discussing colorectal health but emphasized that it’s just part of being healthy.
“We see this every day in the endoscopy unit. But listen, everybody poops. Everybody has a colon. We’re trying to demystify this; this is very normal. It’s a part of your health. And the sooner you know we can detect something, the more likely we can actually cure your cancer,” said Green.
The Giant Colon exhibit will be available at Intercity Shopping Centre from August 7 until August 16th.
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