A group of Iowans has created a free educational tool to make cancer screenings more accessible.
Cancer Screen Iowa is an app and website that recommends what screenings to get, what to know before getting them, and it sends annual reminders. Iowa ranks second in the U.S. in cancer rates.
Mike Schreurs, who helped create the platform, lost his wife to pancreatic cancer. He says the goal is to bring more awareness to the importance of cancer screenings.
Schreurs says, “What we can do is equip them with enough answers that they can take that first step forward, and the first step forward is calling a local clinic.”
Schreurs says cost and healthcare access are barriers for Iowans.
Another one of the platform’s creators, Joe Garcia, also lost his wife to pancreatic cancer. Garcia says early detection is lifesaving, and Iowa is only average in cancer screening rates.
“And average just isn’t good enough when we rank second in per capita incidence rates of cancer,” Garcia says, “and we’re only one of three states growing.”
Garcia says even though there isn’t a cure for cancer, prevention and early detection are part of the solution.
The long-term goal is to build partnerships to support community outreach and screening programs for the uninsured.
