Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

The cancer exercise toolkit: giving exercise professionals online tools to bridge the evidence-practice gap (#23)

Amy Dennett 1 2 , Clarice Tang 3 , Christian Osadnik 4 , April Chiu 2 , Catherine Granger 5 6 , Nicholas Taylor 1 2 , Kristin Campbell 7 , Christian Barton 2
  1. Allied Health Clinical Research, Eastern Health - La Trobe University, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia
  2. La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
  3. School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, New South Wales, Australia, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia
  4. Department of Physiotherapy, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia
  5. Department of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  6. Department of Physiotherapy, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  7. Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Background: Professional development to support exercise professionals to deliver exercise therapy to cancer survivors is needed. Few cancer-specific online resources exist. We aimed to develop and evaluate a freely available online toolkit to support exercise professionals working with cancer survivors.

Method: A two-phase, experience-based co-design approach was completed to develop and evaluate the online toolkit. Phase 1 was needs identification and co-design of resources. Four co-design workshops were conducted, transcribed and thematically analysed to identify key elements for the toolkit. Phase 2 was a pilot evaluation comprising a customised survey distributed to exercise professionals at baseline and 3-months following launch of the online toolkit to determine its usability, utility and effectiveness on exercise professional’s knowledge, confidence and behaviour (Determinants of Implementation Behaviour Questionnaire). Results were described using medians and interquartile range and changes calculated using non-parametric tests. Website usage was also described.

Results: Twenty-five exercise professionals participated in co-designing the online Cancer Exercise Toolkit comprising eight key elements: Homepage, Getting Started, Screening and Safety, Assessment, Exercise Prescription, Education, Locations and Resources. For the pilot evaluation, 320 respondents (87% physiotherapists) from 26 countries completed the baseline survey, with 58 exercise professionals completing follow-up surveys at 3-months. Exercise professional’s knowledge, skills and confidence in delivering exercise therapy for cancer survivors increased at 3-months from baseline (items 1, 6, 8 median 5, IQR 3 to 6) to follow-up (item 1, 6 median 6 points IQR 5 to 6; item 8 median 5 IQR 5 to 7; p<0.001) on a 1 to 7 Likert scale. Most participants (80%) recommended the toolkit to colleagues. The toolkit received an average of 866 views per month.

Conclusion: The co-designed online Cancer Exercise Toolkit was a useful resource for exercise professionals that may increase their knowledge, skills and confidence to provide exercise therapy to cancer survivors.