Embedding exercise into the cancer care continuum through interprofessional relationships

Three colleagues focused on cancer and exercise recently presented at the Mid-Atlantic Region Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting.

Nicole Stout, DPT, research assistant professor in the West Virginia University School of Public Health and assistant director for the survivorship program at WVU Cancer Institute along with Dana Dejarnett, Health Promotion Coordinator at WVU Medicine East, and Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH at Penn State Cancer Institute were invited to share their lecture, titled “Building an exercise program that bridges the gap: Interprofessional collaboration in exercise oncology,” as part of the two-day event.

Focusing on embedding exercise as part of cancer care throughout the continuum by building interpersonal relationships, Stout shared information about WVU Cancer Institute’s prospective bridge program distress screening to facilitate better transitions in supportive care as patients move away from active treatment, Dejarnett discussed community-based exercise and nutrition programs and Schmitz spoke about the ONE program, an exercise service embedded into the Penn State Cancer Institute.

The 44th Annual Meeting of the MARC ACSM, held Nov. 5-6 in Harrisburg, Pa., included poster sessions and more than 40 invited speakers who covered a wide variety of topics including exercise immunology, youth sports development, promoting optimal aging, cancer, ketogenic diets, biomechanics of running and fitness entrepreneurship. The event also included a keynote address by Ross Arena, PhD, professor and head of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the past-president lecture by Jim Roberts, PhD, professor and former chair in the Department of Health and Physical Education at Edinboro University.