Improving physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour among breast cancer survivors: MOVING research into practice

Women diagnosed with breast cancer who are more active and less sedentary have fewer health complaints, can function well, have better quality of life, and live longer with less chances of recurrence. However, nearly 90% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are not physically active and are much too sedentary. Why?This project identifies why so few women are active and so many women are sedentary after a breast cancer diagnosis. Information will be gathered on available resources, programs, and policies for physical activity and sedentary behaviour both in and around cancer centers from women and through an assessment of the environment. Cancer clinicians will be interviewed to understand how physical activity and sedentary behaviour can be better discussed in practice. Based on the gathered evidence, a training program will be developed and tested for cancer clinicians to become more proficient in counselling on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Finally, a prognostic tool will be developed and tested that can be used by cancer clinicians to identify women who are most at risk for low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour. This will help streamline the process of women needing help for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour. These research strategies represent a critical piece to advocating improved health and longevity for the 67 women diagnosed with breast cancer every day in Canada… one step at a time. Knowledge mobilization and integration of lifestyle activity resources and unmet needs among BCS and cliniciansThis aim will be met by: (i) needs assessment strategies to identify existing lifestyle activity resources available to and used by BCS to improve lifestyle activity and (ii) knowledge mobilization and exchange meeting among experts to synthesize, evaluate and act on available resources by developing training materials to help clinicians address lifestyle activity in their practices.Develop and evaluate a training module to improve lifestyle activity counselling in oncology practiceThis aim will be met by (i) developing the training modules for dissemination online; (ii) implementing online training modules aimed at assisting clinicians with lifestyle activity counselling to BCS; and (iii) evaluating the training module and its impact on changing practice.Develop and validate an evidence-based prognostic tool for clinicians to identify BCS who are at risk for poor lifestyle activityThis aim will be met by analyzing secondary data to identify predictors of at-risk lifestyle activity among BCS to enable the development of a nomogram, which will be externally validated with a separate sample of BCS, and then tested for its ease of implementation in a clinical setting. BCS who are identified as at risk for unfavourable lifestyle activity profiles can then be targeted with specialized counselling.