Expanding active living after cancer to underserved cancer survivors and their caregivers

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) improves physical and psychological health in cancer survivors. This study evaluated Active Living After Cancer (ALAC), a community-based program to improve PA, physical function, and quality of life (QOL) in minority and medically underserved cancer survivors and their caregivers.

Methods: Participants completed 12 weekly ALAC sessions and assessments of PA, physical functioning, and QOL at baseline and follow-up (week 12). Paired samples t-tests were used to assess changes in outcomes over time.

Results: 540 cancer survivors (M age = 61.1 years, SD = 11.3) and 87 caregivers (M age = 62.3 years, SD = 13.1) were enrolled. Most were women (91.4%), Hispanic (61.1%) or non-Hispanic Black (19.3%), and medically underserved (86.4%). The percent of cancer survivors meeting PA recommendations increased from 28.9% to 60.2% (d = 0.75), and the number of sit-to-stand repetitions in a 30-second period increased from 12.3 to 14.3 (d = 0.39) from 0-12 weeks. Cancer survivors reported significant improvements in physical (T-score Δ = 1.7, d = 0.06) and mental (T-score Δ = 2.3, d = 0.31) health-related QOL. Caregivers also improved their PA, physical function, and QOL, and there were no statistically significant differences between breast and other cancer survivors and between cancer survivors and caregivers.

Conclusions: The ALAC program demonstrated increased PA, physical function, and QOL in medically underserved cancer survivors and their caregivers. Furthermore, ALAC was successfully implemented by community partners and serves as a good model for reaching medically underserved cancer survivors and improving survivorship. Additional efforts are warranted to further extend reach, improve cancer survivorship, and reduce cancer health disparities among underserved cancer survivors.