Exercise oncology

EX-IMPACT

Integrating exercise interventions within routine healthcare: A plan to inform policy and practice.

Published September 4, 2018

About the EX-IMPACT Study

Regular exercise is an effective therapy when included as part of routine treatment for many types of cancer.  However, integrating exercise interventions in routine cancer care so that people with cancer are consistently able to access this treatment is very difficult.  It requires changing established routines that guide current cancer treatments.  Change often involves a complex mix of factors such as; the healthcare professionals involved in administering treatments, the organisation that hosts the treatment (i.e. a specific hospital or community-based facility) and other external factors (i.e. the patient demand for a new treatment).  Currently, we know little about how best to support and facilitate this change.  This project seeks to understand how current cancer services could adapt and integrate exercise therapy within routine treatment for people with cancer.  If we do not get better at integrating exercise interventions within routine cancer treatments then exercise will have little IMPACT on the health outcomes of people with cancer.

What’s Involved with EX-IMPACT?

Who is this research study for?

This research study focuses on healthcare settings and services that currently deliver cancer treatments.  We will identify cancer services that are currently delivering exercise interventions as part of routine cancer treatment.  These sites will be used as case examples and we will conduct detailed exploration to understand how they achieved this change.  Importantly we wish to learn how, after achieving the initial change, they have managed to sustain this change over time and keep delivering the exercise intervention as part of routine care.

Learnings from these innovative sites will be consolidated and developed within a practical plan to support more health services to integrate exercise interventions within routine cancer treatments.

How do I get involved?

To find out more information please contact Louise Czosnek at (03) 9230 8268 or louise.czosnek@myacu.edu.au