February 4th is World Cancer Day, a time for the cancer community to shine a light on a disease that will affect nearly half of all Canadians in their lifetime. Neary 100 percent of patients will experience CrF during their active cancer treatment, and 30 percent of survivors will continue to live with long-term suffering. With these numbers in mind, School of Psychology Professor Sophie Lebel and PhD Candidate Nicole A. Rutkowski have teamed with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation to launch a pilot project aimed at aiding cancer survivors overcome fatigue.
“Often, cancer survivors do not receive concrete measures for managing fatigue and many ignore the fact that what plagues them is linked to their cancer and is treatable,” says Dr. Lebel, a clinical health psychologist who helps cancer patients and their caregivers with adjustment difficulties throughout the disease trajectory. “We want to help remedy this problem through an intervention that combines psychological education, physical exercise advice, and cognitive-behavioral therapy.”
The program is adapted from a 2008 study into fatigue management of breast cancer survivors, and evidence-based treatments such as mindfulness. A 2017 meta-analysis found interventions that combine physical activity and cognitive-behavioural therapy moderately reduced CrF in cancer survivors and were significantly greater than any pharmaceutical interventions.
“We did a lot of work before launching our program, whether it be with focus groups of cancer survivors, community organizations, and healthcare professionals to develop a research program that involves key stakeholders. Our team of patient-partners has provided precise observations on the intervention content so that it is accessible to the broadest number of people touched by cancer,” says Dr. Lebel, a Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
“What is really innovative is this idea of working with a community partner and patient partners so that we can offer this initiative beyond the research project’s timeline. If the results bear it, this intervention will be regularly offered by our community partner.”
“Our idea was to decompartmentalize the research and take it out to the field.”
Patricia Barrett-Robillard, a cancer coach from the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, is a member of the research team and a key stakeholder. The research team worked collaboratively with a patient advisory board, compromised of four cancer patients, to ensure this program meet the needs of cancer survivors.
The first of three 4-week programs for the cancer-related fatigue research study begins on Tuesday, February 8. The next two groups will run in the spring and fall of 2022.
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