There may also be opportunities for cost savings by better coordination of diagnostic, screening and treatment services. The Centre has established a project which will be undertaken in conjunction with the Cancer Strategies Group to explore, over the next year or so, opportunities for the development of a more coordinated approach to breast cancer control. Improving information for women The Centre has developed many different approaches to providing consumer information including the website, written consumer information and audiotapes. The coming year will see the release of our CD-ROM which provides an interactive approach, consumer guides about early breast cancer in a range of community languages and information for indigenous women. There are already resources available for the partners of women with breast cancer and this year will see the release of a resource for adolescent children.
Feedback suggests that Australia leads the world in providing high-quality information for women.
However, not all women receive appropriate information at the moment. We know relatively little about how best to meet the information needs of women. The challenge is to find ways of providing the information to the diverse range of women within the community as well as ensuring that the right information reaches women at the crucial time of diagnosis. New approaches to care The Federal Government's support for breast cancer control has meant that it has been possible to develop and trial many innovative approaches to care. A major challenge will be to find ways to maximise this investment by ensuring that the knowledge gained is accessible and flexible enough to be useful to other cancers and health problems.