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Exploring cancer survivors’ views of health behavior change: "Where do you start, where do you stop with everything?"

Exploring cancer survivors’ views of health behavior change: "Where do you start, where do you stop with everything?"
Exploring cancer survivors’ views of health behavior change: "Where do you start, where do you stop with everything?"
Objective: physical activity (PA) and a healthy diet can improve the well-being of cancer survivors. However, cancer survivors often do not engage in these behaviours. This study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to engaging in these behaviours following cancer treatment.

Methods: during the development of a web-based intervention to enhance health-related quality of life in cancer survivors, 32 people who had completed treatment for breast, colon or prostate cancer were presented with an intervention for PA and healthy eating. In-depth think-aloud and semi-structured interviewing techniques were used to elicit perceptions of both behaviours. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: some individuals reported implementing positive health behaviour changes to maintain health and prevent recurrence, or to help them to move forward after cancer. However, others reported feeling abandoned, and many did not report an intention to engage in lifestyle changes. Individuals discussed contextual and healthrelated barriers that were specifically linked to their situation as post-treatment cancer survivors: individuals described uncertainty about how to implement adaptive changes and perceived a lack of support from healthcare providers. Others viewed behaviour change as unnecessary or undesirable, with some arguing that nonmodifiable factors contributed more to their cancer diagnosis than lifestyle-related factors.

Conclusions: for many participants in this study, the period that follows treatment for cancer did not represent a ‘teachable moment’. A variety of complex and heterogeneous factors appeared to impact motivation, and may limit cancer survivors from engaging with diet and PA changes.
1057-9249
1816-1824
Corbett, Teresa
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Cheetham, Tara
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Muller, Andre M.
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Slodkowska-Barabasz, Joanna
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Wilde, Laura J.
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Krusche, Adele
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Richardson, Alison
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Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
Watson, Eila
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Little, Paul
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Yardley, Lucy
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Bradbury, Katherine
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Corbett, Teresa
bce81837-17ae-46c3-a6b1-43a7e1f07f9c
Cheetham, Tara
99ea7608-7d19-4e78-bd98-5ca3ca1c46f1
Muller, Andre M.
8d4ca50e-5f84-4817-89b3-ceb792be93b7
Slodkowska-Barabasz, Joanna
18182048-55ee-474c-9790-1f5b81fa585c
Wilde, Laura J.
9c0d03ba-8751-493e-94ef-d2e446d6d202
Krusche, Adele
336ef9cd-ec58-4826-8eaa-9c9f6edbb0ee
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Foster, Claire
00786ac1-bd47-4aeb-a0e2-40e058695b73
Watson, Eila
d295228d-d534-4c35-844f-ca8471c169c0
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Yardley, Lucy
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Bradbury, Katherine
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Corbett, Teresa, Cheetham, Tara, Muller, Andre M., Slodkowska-Barabasz, Joanna, Wilde, Laura J., Krusche, Adele, Richardson, Alison, Foster, Claire, Watson, Eila, Little, Paul, Yardley, Lucy and Bradbury, Katherine (2018) Exploring cancer survivors’ views of health behavior change: "Where do you start, where do you stop with everything?". Psycho-Oncology, 27 (7), 1816-1824. (doi:10.1002/pon.4732).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objective: physical activity (PA) and a healthy diet can improve the well-being of cancer survivors. However, cancer survivors often do not engage in these behaviours. This study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to engaging in these behaviours following cancer treatment.

Methods: during the development of a web-based intervention to enhance health-related quality of life in cancer survivors, 32 people who had completed treatment for breast, colon or prostate cancer were presented with an intervention for PA and healthy eating. In-depth think-aloud and semi-structured interviewing techniques were used to elicit perceptions of both behaviours. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: some individuals reported implementing positive health behaviour changes to maintain health and prevent recurrence, or to help them to move forward after cancer. However, others reported feeling abandoned, and many did not report an intention to engage in lifestyle changes. Individuals discussed contextual and healthrelated barriers that were specifically linked to their situation as post-treatment cancer survivors: individuals described uncertainty about how to implement adaptive changes and perceived a lack of support from healthcare providers. Others viewed behaviour change as unnecessary or undesirable, with some arguing that nonmodifiable factors contributed more to their cancer diagnosis than lifestyle-related factors.

Conclusions: for many participants in this study, the period that follows treatment for cancer did not represent a ‘teachable moment’. A variety of complex and heterogeneous factors appeared to impact motivation, and may limit cancer survivors from engaging with diet and PA changes.

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Accepted/In Press date: 2 April 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 April 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 419278
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/419278
ISSN: 1057-9249
PURE UUID: 9dc0b9d1-7a57-4521-8a6d-4f07dbbcbcd3
ORCID for Teresa Corbett: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5620-5377
ORCID for Alison Richardson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3127-5755
ORCID for Claire Foster: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4703-8378
ORCID for Paul Little: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3664-1873
ORCID for Lucy Yardley: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3853-883X
ORCID for Katherine Bradbury: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5513-7571

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Date deposited: 10 Apr 2018 16:30
Last modified: 12 Jul 2024 01:54

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Contributors

Author: Teresa Corbett ORCID iD
Author: Tara Cheetham
Author: Andre M. Muller
Author: Laura J. Wilde
Author: Adele Krusche
Author: Claire Foster ORCID iD
Author: Eila Watson
Author: Paul Little ORCID iD
Author: Lucy Yardley ORCID iD

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