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Physical Activity and Cancer Care in the Atlantic Canadian Provinces: an Examination of Provider Beliefs, Practices, Resources, Barriers, and Enablers

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Abstract

Despite the well-established benefits of physical activity for cancer survivors, the vast majority of survivors are not sufficiently active to reap these benefits. While cancer-specific physical activity guidelines exist, it remains unclear whether there are sufficient resources to support these recommendations. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the available cancer-specific physical activity programs for cancer survivors in Atlantic Canada and explore barriers and enablers to program implementation. Interviews were conducted with a purposefully selected sample of oncology healthcare professionals, administrators, and cancer-specific physical activity program leaders to examine the attitudes and practices of key stakeholders with respect to physical activity and cancer-specific programming. Thirty participants, including 7 oncologists, 7 nurses, 6 allied healthcare professionals, 5 administrators, and 5 program leaders, completed an interview. Three over-arching themes emerged, including (1) knowledge, attitudes and need for physical activity; (2) implementation barriers; and (3) implementation enablers. The results of this study suggest that cancer survivors in Atlantic Canada may require additional resources and support with respect to physical activity throughout their cancer care journey.

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Funding

This research was funded in part by the Nova Scotia Health Authority Cancer Care Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Kelsey M. Shea

  2. Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Robin Urquhart

  3. School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, 6230 South Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Melanie R. Keats

Authors
  1. Kelsey M. Shea
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  2. Robin Urquhart
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  3. Melanie R. Keats
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Correspondence to Melanie R. Keats.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to inclusion in the study. The authors Institutional Review Board approved this study prior to implementation. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Shea, K.M., Urquhart, R. & Keats, M.R. Physical Activity and Cancer Care in the Atlantic Canadian Provinces: an Examination of Provider Beliefs, Practices, Resources, Barriers, and Enablers. J Canc Educ 35, 946–953 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01546-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01546-x

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