Speaker
Description
Regular physical activity plays a critical role in improving health outcomes and quality of life for individuals affected by cancer. This poster presents the work of a non-profit organization that has been providing free exercise classes for the past 19 years to individuals impacted by cancer, including those in active treatment, survivorship, and recovery.
To date, the program has supported over 8,000 participants, with an average of 90 individuals attending weekly sessions. Classes are designed to be accessible, supportive, and adaptable to varying levels of ability, with a focus on improving physical function, reducing treatment-related side effects, and enhancing overall well-being.
Participant outcomes demonstrate consistent improvements in fatigue levels, exercise adherence, activities of daily living, range of motion, and overall quality of life. The program also fosters a strong sense of community, contributing to emotional and social support alongside physical rehabilitation.
These findings demonstrate the long-term effectiveness, feasibility, and scalability of community-based exercise oncology interventions within real-world settings. From a health systems perspective, this non-profit model represents a potentially cost-effective approach to extending care beyond traditional oncology settings by improving access, enhancing continuity of care, and reducing downstream healthcare utilization associated with cancer-related morbidity. Broader implementation of non-profit delivery models may contribute to improved population-level outcomes while supporting more efficient allocation of healthcare resources across the cancer care continuum.
Keywords
Exercise oncology
Cancer survivorship
Implementation science
Community-based intervention
| Abstract submitters declaration | yes |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest & Ethical Approval | yes |
