Health 4 Her Trial

Health 4 Her logo

 

A brief intervention to improve awareness of the alcohol-breast cancer link and address harmful alcohol use among women attending breast screening services.

Overview

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Australia, with 20,640 new cases estimated to be diagnosed in 2022. Alcohol is a major modifiable risk factor for breast cancer, with 1 in 17 breast cancer cases in Australia attributable to alcohol products. Yet, awareness of this risk remains low, and is not routinely addressed in healthcare settings.

While population alcohol consumption is declining, risky drinking is increasing among mid-older age women, a demographic who are at highest lifetime risk for developing breast cancer. Population-based breast screening programs are uniquely positioned to provide women with health information about the risks of alcohol products.

Research team

Our research team from Turning Point (part of Eastern Health) and Monash University, in collaboration with BreastScreen Victoria, and funded by VicHealth and the Eastern Health Foundation, is conducting research with women who attend breast screening services. To raise awareness of the alcohol-breast cancer link we have recently tested the benefits of the Health4Her intervention in a randomised controlled trial conducted at Maroondah BreastScreen (part of Eastern Health and BreastScreen Victoria).

Snapshot of our research to date

  • We analysed alcohol data from 49,240 breast screening service consumers who are part of Peter MacCallum’s Lifepool, and found that 1 in 5 women are drinking at a level exceeding national guidelines for weekly consumption (which recommend healthy adults drink no more than 10 standard drinks per week).
  • We surveyed 391 women who attend breast screening, and found that just 1 in 5 women had knowledge that alcohol products increase breast cancer risk.
  • Of the 391 women surveyed, the vast majority (97%) supported adding 5 minutes to their screening appointment to receive breast cancer risk reduction information.
  • We worked with 31 women who attend breast screening, to develop the Health4Her intervention, a brief health promotion activity offered to women attending routine screening that aims to increase awareness of the alcohol-breast cancer link, and support women to keep their drinking in a low-risk range.

Full results of the Health4Her intervention will be released soon.

We have received support from Shades of Pink to begin phase two of the Health4Her intervention. Turning Point is seeking additional financial support to scale up this work, to reach more women to raise awareness of this risk, empower women to make informed choices about their use of alcohol products, and reduce alcohol-attributable breast cancer.

Supporting Health4Her

Turning Point is seeking financial support to continue to expand the Health4Her project across Australia, empowering women to make informed decisions around alcohol consumption.

To help scale up the Health4Her intervention, you can donate to Turning Point.

Project team

Professor Dan Lubman, Turning Point and Monash University
Dr Jasmin Grigg, Turning Point and Monash University
Associate Professor Victoria Manning, Turning Point and Monash University
Dr Darren Lockie, Maroondah BreastScreen, Eastern Health
Ms Michelle Clemson, Maroondah BreastScreen, Eastern Health
Professor Robin Bell, Monash University
Associate Professor Liam Smith, BehaviourWorks Australia
Associate Professor Peter Bragge, BehaviourWorks Australia
Ms Isabelle Volpe, Turning Point and Monash University
Ms Peta Stragalinos, Turning Point and Monash University
Ms Chloe Bernard, Turning Point and Monash University
Dr Christopher Greenwood, Deakin University and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Our funders

Contact details

For enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Grigg
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (03) 8413 8723