帮助癌症幸存者 - 并保持 - 活跃

在乳腺癌诊断时，特蕾莎塞尔维亚知道她超重。

“在我幸运的时候成为幸存者，我意识到我需要改变我的生活方式，”特蕾莎说，她在最重现的比赛中重视200多磅。MD Anderson的癌症后积极生活program not only helped her trim down to 170 pounds, but also provided community support and taught her how to work through common challenges faced by cancer survivors and anyone trying to move from a sedentary to an active lifestyle.

The free 12-week program, now offered online via Zoom, introduces cancer survivors to simple, but effective physical exercises and behavior-based techniques that make lifestyle changes stick through 90-minute classes once a week. Each week a different guest speaker helps participants navigate survivorship topics, including营养那fatigue那fear of cancer recurrence and how to talk to your doctor.

“The program made a big difference in my life,” Teresa says. “It helped me be part of a group of people who were all doing the same things I was doing.”

Tools and support to help cancer survivors make healthy changes

癌症计划后的活性生活使癌症幸存者如特蕾莎这样的工具和支持，他们需要在他们的生活中保持健康的变化。

“很多人做完治疗，感觉不如以前好。他们可能没有同样的精力，或者他们感到有点失落Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D.主任癌症之后积极生活。“大多数体育ople who join the program are pretty sedentary and find themselves asking, ‘OK, I've finished treatment – now what? What should I do to optimize my health?’”

The period after cancer treatment is an important time to begin – or return to – an active lifestyle. A number of observational studies show – particularly in乳房那结直肠和prostatecancers – that survivors who are more physically active live longer, Basen-Engquist says. Multiple randomized临床试验have also shown that exercise can help cancer survivors managefatigue那抑郁和焦虑，提高他们的整体生活质量。

COVID-19为癌症后的积极生活带来了一种新的虚拟形式

认识到这些福利，Basen-engquist于2014年建立了癌症计划后的活性生活，支持Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)。

The program is offered in English and Spanish. Initially, the program was limited to breast cancer survivors in the Greater Houston area. In 2017, it was expanded to survivors of any cancer type, and to residents of both Houston and El Paso, with the help of partner organizations, such as the Kelsey Research Foundation and the Cancer and Chronic Disease Consortium. Participants do not need to be MD Anderson patients, and they cannot be in active treatment.

By early 2020, CPRIT had funded the program with another grant to expand to rural and medically underserved communities in Texas, including the Beaumont and Tyler areas.

然后coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic击中，很明显，面对面的会议无法安全地继续。该团队快速转换为虚拟格式。

“我们曾经考虑开发虚拟选项来帮助我们接触生活在更多农村地区的幸存者，因此社交隔离gave us a chance to try it out,” Basen-Engquist says. “Participants have been very positive about the change. Many appreciate the chance to connect with other survivors and take positive steps for their health even during social distancing.”

癌症后的活性生活目前正在注册在线课程，新队列在滚动的基础上开放。该计划的工作人员正在与Beaumont和Uthealth的Life of Life in Tyler合作，为此秋季的那些地区提供癌症幸存者的虚拟课程。

参与者看到健身改进

自2014年以来，超过900名幸存者参与了癌症后的活性生活。近80％已完成该计划。参与者一直报告改善生活质量，并表现出体质健康的可衡量进展。例如，静止式测试计数人们可以从椅子上站起来有多少次，并在30秒内坐下来。当程序扩展到所有类型的癌症幸存者时，只有30％的参与者测量到50以上^TH.性别和年龄的百分位数。当他们完成这项计划时，有近50%的人在50岁以上^TH.百分位数。

这个团队依靠社区健康教育者来引导癌症后的积极生活，每个教育者都为这个项目带来了自己的活力。在每周的电话会议上，教育者们会分享一些对他们的课程很有效的想法，比如为参与者们建立一个小组文本线索，以激励彼此，或者在目标设定的行为课程中创建愿景板。成功的想法作为增强功能被纳入课程中，以便在以后的课程中被跟踪、衡量和使用。

给癌症幸存者提供新的保持活力的技能

自1月份癌症后毕业于活跃的生活毕业以来，特雷萨错过了她班级的社区。但她一周继续走三次，并决心击中她的目标重量为150磅。

与其他参与者一样，她正在享受生活质量的提高，并在实现身体健康目标方面取得进展。

“作为一种行为科学家，我认为行为改变并不是在12周内发生的事情，”Basen-engquist说。“但我希望我们能够给予癌症幸存者的新技能和能力，继续寻找资源，以保持自己的身体活跃。”

Teresa says one of the most important things she learned was how to work through challenges and keep moving toward her goals.

“他们告诉我，即使你可能会倒退一点，也没关系，”她说。“别打自己。你为自己做的越多，你的感觉就越好。”

在MD Anderson在线预约或通过拨打1-877-632-6789。