Many cancer survivors find it difficult to lead an active life

“Those who cope well with cancer treatment are usually those who lived an active life before being diagnosed. It reduces the risk of delayed injury and complications,” says Benedikte Western.

In his clinical work, he reviewed 34 different studies, all of which involved cancer patients participating in exercise programs. He noticed several common traits among those who started but dropped out. One of them was that they did not have an active life before they got cancer.

“Their withdrawal in the middle destroys the research. It destroys the results when those who finish the program are already living an active life before they get sick. In fact, they are not the ones who this research aims to help,” says Western .

Typically, those who did not complete an exercise program after cancer treatment were overweight and had less education.

However, some exercise programs have had more dropouts than others, and people stop at different times. Some exercised regularly during treatment but stopped afterwards.

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‘Who quits when he doesn’t do it suddenly’

“We need to keep this in mind when creating these courses. Who quits is not random, and in order to find a solution that works for everyone, we need to pay more attention to those who are most likely to stop,” says Western.

It is naturally easier to stick to existing best practices than to create new ones. For many, the cancer treatment alone is challenging enough, and in some cases the treatment itself can result in job impairment.

“Many cancer survivors struggle with fatigue and feel that rest does not help. Sleep is often affected, and some have to remove large amounts of tissue or skin. Hormone levels can also be “Adding life change to all of this can be difficult, but simply avoiding it won’t make things better,” says Western.

Constant change

Living an active lifestyle can be difficult and depends a lot on the individual. Therefore, Western also investigates so-called ‘self-management skills’—the ability of cancer survivors to make lasting lifestyle changes.

“Changing people’s behavior is complex. That’s why we need more knowledge about what people need help with, and what they believe they can handle on their own. Each person’s background and the starting points are unique, the key is to find what contributes to the lasting changes,” says Western.

He found that those who reported higher levels of physical activity were also more engaged in life. They had hobbies and activities that they felt gave their lives meaning. They also monitored their lives, had reasonable expectations of themselves, and recognized what was affecting their lives.

Greater chance of getting cancer again

“The goal is to find out what qualities can help cancer survivors to be physically active. It’s a huge challenge that requires different resources, staff and services for different people. Now, support for cancer survivors it’s unheard of,” says Western.

A risk that is often not discussed well is that cancer survivors have a greater chance of developing a different type of cancer. This can be caused by the cancer treatment itself but also has a lot to do with lifestyle. That makes efforts to encourage cancer survivors to work even more important.

“Many people are left with very poor health after surviving cancer. It’s not something you just go through. That’s why it’s important to give survivors a way to be physically active. consistent,” says Western.