Exercise program to support women returning to work after breast cancer
Original story from Breast Cancer Now
Researchers are investigating how to improve the quality of life of women returning to work after breast cancer, thanks to vital funding.
Breast Cancer Now (London, UK) has awarded £101,028 to Dr Rebecca Vince at the University of Hull to trial a new exercise program designed to provide women with skills, knowledge and confidence to adopt a healthier lifestyle when returning to work after breast cancer.
With changes in retirement ages and advances in breast cancer treatments, there are a higher number of women now returning to the workforce following their treatment.
However, adapting to life after treatment for breast cancer and returning to work can be difficult, with one in three [1] women experiencing persistent tiredness after treatment, and almost half [2] (48%) of women experiencing depression and anxiety.
A tailored exercise program could help women to manage these issues and help them return to work.
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Physical activity has been shown to improve cancer-related fatigue, reduce the risk of breast cancer relapse, and has positive effects on mental health and wellbeing – yet there are few programs available that specifically support women to start an exercise programme after breast cancer treatment.
This study will see researchers trial a new personalised 12-week home-based exercise program with 90 women with lived experience of breast cancer who have returned to work. They will monitor physical activity, fatigue, mood, pain levels and workplace performance.
The researchers will work with the study participants to determine how this support could be improved and how people could best access it after treatment.
Focus groups will also be held with women who have struggled to return to work post-treatment to better understand the barriers they face and how the programme can be tailored to their needs.
Crucially, the program is designed to be low-cost and flexible so that it’s easy for women to follow and build into their everyday routine.
Dr Rebecca Vince from the University of Hull said, “We hope our novel home-based exercise program will help women build long-term healthy habits and improve their quality of life when returning to work.”
“Quality of life is important, embodying good physical and mental health and overall well-being and happiness. We believe our program can address these factors and fulfil a very unmet need for women after breast cancer.”
“Almost 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK and this number is rising. This project has real potential to help improve women’s quality of life after breast cancer treatment and also help many of them when they return to work. Whilst many women are living longer after a breast cancer diagnosis, the period after finishing active treatment can be very challenging. So it’s vitally important these women get the support they need at this time to ensure they have the best possible quality of life,” said Dr Simon Vincent, chief scientific officer at Breast Cancer Now.
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