Canadian Cancer Society contributes $199,780 for Canada-wide research
Cristina Caperchione has received a $199,780 grant from the Canadian Cancer Society to investigate novel approaches to increasing physical activity for survivors of breast cancer.
There are few Canadians who don’t know a friend, sister, mother, or daughter unaffected by breast cancer.
Many of Canada’s 150,000 survivors of breast cancer require post-treatment care for the debilitating effects that can result from treatment, and physical activity can compound potential post-treatment chronic health risks.
Asst. Prof. Cristina Caperchione of UBC’s School of Health and Exercise Sciences has received a Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation Innovation Grant from the Canadian Cancer Society for $199,780, to investigate novel approaches to increasing physical activity for survivors of breast cancer.
The primary purpose of the three-year research project is to examine what motivates survivors to increase their physical activity. The goal is to empower breast cancer survivors.
“I want to provide these strong women with the opportunity to optimise their own strengths, and knowledge, to improve their post-treatment quality of life,” says Caperchione.
Existing research has identified that generic physical activity programs do not necessarily meet the needs of survivors, which has highlighted the demand for innovative programming.
“The program should reflect the ‘real-world’ situations that survivors are most likely to find themselves in,” says Caperchione.
"Dr. Caperchione's research is vital for reducing the barriers to participation in physical activity for survivors of breast cancer. Doing so will reduce the health care burden and, more important, improve the quality of life in this patient population,” says Prof. Paul van Donkelaar, director of the School of Health and Exercise Sciences.
Caperchione will develop the study with her first focus on women who are living in the Okanagan.
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