Speaker
Description
Background:
Exercise benefits people undergoing cancer treatment; yet most do not receive this evidence-based care. Research is required to determine effective care pathways that overcome barriers to routine integration of exercise recommendations into cancer care pathways.
Methods:
An exercise referral process was co-designed with healthcare partners and consumers from a regional radiation therapy clinic in Western Australia. The process integrated an exercise discussion for all people receiving treatment into the initial nursing appointment. Referrals were generated to an oncology-trained exercise physiologist (EP) with consultant access to medical record systems. They completed a phone consult consisting of tailored exercise recommendations and triage to appropriate community programs. Audit-and-feedback was used to monitor reach, fidelity, and acceptability from February to November 2025.
Results:
From 688 patients treated, 158 (23%) were not referred due to system gaps. Of the 530 referred patients, 186 (27%) declined participation, 157 (23%) had medical contraindications, 20 were unable to be contacted. EP consultations were completed for 156 patients (23%). Physical activity guideline adherence was assessed for 418 patients, with 267 (64%) not meeting recommendations. Among the 151 (36%) meeting some guidelines, 61 met aerobic only, 54 met both aerobic and strength, and 8 met strength recommendations only. Exercise support requirements were determined for 619 patients. Moderate-intensity support requiring exercise oncology expertise, but not ongoing supervision was most common (296, 48%). Program preferences (n=31) showed 71% preferred independent home-based programs, 16% group-based sessions, and 13% one-on-one support. Average EP consultation time was 29.5 minutes per patient.
Conclusions:
Clinical integration of exercise support is possible but requires implementation monitoring to manage system-level barriers as one-half of patients were prevented from accessing exercise services. Most patients do not meet exercise guidelines and require moderate-intensity exercise support, highlighting the ongoing need to continue work to systematically integrate exercise into cancer treatment pathways.
Keywords
implementation, health service research, exercise, cancer
| Abstract submitters declaration | yes |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest & Ethical Approval | yes |
