- PROJECT TITLE: Promoting physical activity inchildhood cancer survivors: Using qualitative andco-design methods to inform the developmentof an evidence-based intervention
- LEAD INVESTIGATOR: Professor Linda Sharp
- INSTITUTION: University of Newcastle
- AMOUNT AWARDED: £73,000 (funded by CCLG)
Project team member, Dr Morven Brown writes...
Not long after starting work as a cancer researcher, I learnt about late effects of childhood cancer and how survivors are at increased risk of developing several, often serious, health problems in later life. This was a bit of a surprise to me, and of particular interest, as about seven years earlier, aged 24, I’d completed treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. I wondered whether other young cancer survivors knew about these risks, but also what, if anything, could be done to reduce the likelihood of these health problems occurring.
Research has shown that childhood cancer survivors are more likely to develop heart problems, and die from them, than young people who haven’t had cancer. This is largely due to the toxic effects that certain cancer treatments have on the heart. However, research also shows that being physically active could help survivors’ heart health. Despite this, we know they do less physical activity than their peers who haven’t had cancer.
Unfortunately, we don’t yet know the best way to encourage and support survivors to be more physically active. Our recent study - ‘BEing Active after ChildhOod caNcer’ (BEACON) - aimed to understand this very issue. We wanted to carry out research which would help us to design an ‘intervention’ (a package of activities and strategies) which would help and support survivors to be more active.
Our study
We searched medical journals to find and review all previous studies where researchers had spoken to childhood cancer survivors about their physical activity. We found only eight studies (just one from the UK) which gave limited insight into why survivors may struggle with being active.
We then spoke to 31 survivors in UK follow-up care, and 22 parents of survivors. We learnt a lot about the challenges survivors can face - in fact, they reported over 100 factors which influenced their physical activity. These ranged from being unsure about what kind they can do, through to lacking confidence, being worried about safety and the adverse impact of physical limitations and health issues. They also highlighted the importance of support from others and the need for physical activity to be fun and enjoyable.
Lastly, we held online workshops with groups of survivors. They discussed what could help survivors be active, providing useful tips on how to make a physical activity intervention more ‘attractive’. Based on our findings we have designed – on paper - a ‘prototype’ programme aiming to encourage and support survivors to become more active. Our plan is that this support programme will involve survivors receiving brief advice on physical activity from their oncologist/ nurse specialist before being offered a referral to a trained physical activity coach, tailored online activity sessions and access to a specially developed web app.
Next steps
We’ve recently applied for funding so we can further develop the support programme with survivors and professionals. We want to work out the details of what the support programme should look like, such as the content of the activity sessions or the design of the web app. Once we’ve done that, we will test whether it can be delivered in the NHS.
Find out more about the project
From Contact magazine issue 99 - Summer 2023
