Cancer survivors’ experiences of an exercise program during treatment and while employed: A qualitative pilot study

Abstract

Issue addressed: This study examined breast cancer survivors’ (BCS) views on the role of exercise therapy while they were working in employment during cancer treatment. Methods: Research was undertaken with five participants who undertook an exercise programme as adjuvant care during treatment for breast cancer. Four female and one male client, the only clients who met the criteria for study in the clinic, were interviewed twice each during a two-month period. Participants wrote diaries to supplement the interview data and provide prompts for the second interview. An interpretive paradigm was used to identify themes for analysis. A multiple coding approach was used to interpret the data. The study was conducted at a small breast cancer recovery clinic, situated at a university in the South Island of New Zealand. Results: Participants reported that exercise was essential to their ability to work through the active treatment phase and provided positive effects on social, mental and emotional well-being. Conclusions: Exercise therapy is an important element of enabling to work during treatment, for physical, mental and social well-being. So what?: Future research is required on support for employers to enable exercise therapy for employees; the needs of self-employed patients; tailoring exercise therapy for patients for whom social support is not a primary motivation; and the place of a clinic as a ‘middle-ground’ between social and emotional support and an exercise clinic.