Navigating legal guardianship: To ensure preventive breast health care for women with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND

Women with intellectual disability experience a delay in breast cancer detection compared to the general female population. Delayed detection may be attributed to a lack of participation in breast health initiatives, including population-based screening programs. Most people with intellectual disability require assistance from family members or legal guardians to comprehend information and make informed decisions.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to explore the experiences of legal guardians regarding their clients' (women with intellectual disability) participation with breast health care.

METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study using mixed methods to analyze data from a web-based study-specific questionnaire completed by 35 legal guardians.

RESULTS

Views varied regarding the responsibility of the legal guardian. Considering the client's autonomy, the legal guardian chose to allow the client to opt out of participating in the mammography screening if they did not wish to do so. To facilitate greater participation in breast health care, easily comprehensible materials, incorporating both text and pictures, ought to be distributed to women with intellectual disability and their support networks.

CONCLUSION

Dissemination of information regarding breast health awareness should extend to women with intellectual disability, their legal guardians, residential staff and management, and relevant municipal officials. Further studies are needed to confirm or challenge our results.