Understanding In-Person and Online Exercise Oncology Program Delivery: Participant Perspectives

Duchek, Delaney

Understanding In-Person and Online Exercise Oncology Program Delivery: Participant Perspectives

dc.contributor.advisor	Culos-Reed, Nicole
dc.contributor.author	Duchek, Delaney
dc.contributor.committeemember	McDonough, Meghan
dc.contributor.committeemember	Bridel, William
dc.contributor.committeemember	Berzins, Sandra
dc.date	2021-11
dc.date.accessioned	2021-07-16T16:30:22Z
dc.date.available	2021-07-16T16:30:22Z
dc.date.issued	2021-06-30
dc.description.abstract	Background: Alberta Cancer Exercise (ACE) is an exercise oncology program delivered in community-based settings until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when ACE was forced to transition to an online platform for remote delivery. Purpose: To evaluate the perspectives of cancer survivors who have transitioned from an in-person to an online exercise oncology program. Specifically, survivors' exercise facilitators and barriers in both delivery modes, delivery mode preference, and experience with the program elements targeting behaviour change were gathered. Methods: A retrospective cohort design using explanatory sequential mixed-methods was used to assess participants' experiences with participation in both settings. Participants who have completed both in-person and online ACE classes were asked to complete a survey, with the option to complete a subsequent interview. Results: A total of 57 (response rate 46%) completed the survey and 19 interviews were conducted. Most participants indicated preferring in-person programs (58%), followed by online (32%), and no preference (10%). There were significantly fewer barriers (p<0.01), but also fewer facilitators/benefits (p<0.01), to exercising online. Qualitative data analysis supported survey findings, with participants frequently noting the convenience of attending online, but a lack of equivalent social connection gained. Content analysis (survey comments) and thematic analysis (interview analysis) demonstrated that the online setting was less conducive to providing behaviour change support, largely attributed to limitations inherent to the online platform. Conclusion: ACE participants experienced facilitators and barriers to both the online and in-person delivery modes. The transition to online was supported by participants' in-person experiences, and for future work that includes solely online (i.e., for rural and remote cancer survivor exercise program delivery), focusing on building social support and a sense of community will be critical to optimizing program benefits. Addressing the need for promoting and maintaining exercise in people with cancer using an online platform when standard exercise formats are restricted due to COVID-19 is timely and necessary. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, results of this research will remain relevant as we aim to increase the reach of online exercise oncology programming to more underserved populations of individuals living with cancer (i.e., rural/remote, immunocompromised, young adult populations).	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Duchek, D. (2021). Understanding In-Person and Online Exercise Oncology Program Delivery: Participant Perspectives (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39013
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113633
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Kinesiology	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	exercise oncology	en_US
dc.subject	telehealth	en_US
dc.subject	synchronous	en_US
dc.subject	supervised	en_US
dc.subject	group-based	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Oncology	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Behavioral	en_US
dc.title	Understanding In-Person and Online Exercise Oncology Program Delivery: Participant Perspectives	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Kinesiology	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US