Building the future of exercise oncology: current status of international workforce development and integration into standard cancer care.

The complex requirements of people with cancer can impact the provision of safe, effective, evidence-based exercise prescription. Consequently, a range of essential competencies are required from the exercise oncology workforce. There is a global need for a standardized approach to the development of this workforce.

Triage tools to inform the prioritisation of physical health services following a diagnosis of cancer: a scoping review.

Purpose: Many people face multiple cancer- and treatment-related sequalae. Triage and referral to physical health services can manage such consequences, but a comprehensive understanding of available triage tools is lacking. This review (i) identifies tools used to triage to physical health services, (ii) maps tool characteristics and application outcomes and (iii) summarises existing gaps.

Breast and prostate cancer survivors' understanding of risk and management of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal side effects of treatment: findings from focus groups.

Purpose: Survival after a cancer diagnosis is improving, increasing the importance of understanding and managing long-term treatment-related adverse effects. This study aimed to understand breast and prostate cancer survivors' understanding of how cancer treatment may affect cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health.

Methods: Australian breast and prostate cancer survivors treated with therapies with known cardiovascular adverse effects were recruited via a private cancer care provider.

Translating advocacy into action: exploring oncology healthcare professionals' awareness and use of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia position statement on exercise in cancer care.

Purpose: The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) position statement on exercise in cancer care encourages all healthcare professionals to discuss, recommend, and refer people with cancer to exercise; however, use of these recommendations in practice is unknown.

Methods: Oncology healthcare professionals working in Australia were invited to complete a cross-sectional online survey that assessed contextual factors that influence implementation of COSA exercise guidance in cancer care, based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Results: We received 133 survey responses.

Cocreating a programme to prevent injuries and improve performance in Australian Police Force recruits: a study protocol.

A healthy police force is a key component of a well-functioning society, yet 1 in 20 law enforcement recruits drop out of the recruit training programme due to injury. This drop-out rate has substantial economic and workforce ramifications. In the Western Australia Police Force, one in five recruits suffers a musculoskeletal injury during the recruit training programme, causing time-loss from work.

Planning and evaluating an integrated clinical exercise oncology service: an exploratory mixed-methods study.

Background: This project aimed to design and evaluate the potential to integrate an exercise oncology service into clinical care in a local healthcare system. The goal was to inform the design of an implementation strategy to promote its sustainable use in standard care.

Methods: This two-phase, exploratory study used a mixed-methods approach.

Proximity to cancer rehabilitation and exercise oncology by geography, race, and socioeconomic status.

Background: Cancer rehabilitation and exercise oncology (CR/EO) have documented benefits for people living with and beyond cancer. The authors examined proximity to CR/EO programs across the United States with respect to population density, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and cancer incidence and mortality rates.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022-2023.

Identification of core competencies for exercise oncology professionals: A Delphi study of United States and Australian participants.

Introduction: Integration of exercise into standard oncology care requires a highly skilled workforce of exercise professionals; however, competency requirements have not kept pace with advancements in the field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to obtain consensus on core competencies required for an exercise professional to be qualified to work with adults undergoing active cancer treatment.

Materials And Methods: A three-round modified electronic Delphi process was used.

Exercise and diet support in breast and prostate cancer survivors: findings from focus groups.

Purpose: Cancer survival is improving, making optimal management of long-term treatment-related adverse effects increasingly important. Exercise and a healthy diet are beneficial and regularly recommended in cancer survivorship guidelines; however, few cancer survivors meet these recommendations so there is a need to explore why. This study aimed to understand experiences receiving exercise and diet support among Australian breast and prostate cancer survivors during and following treatment, and to explore what support they would like to receive.

Exercise professional education, qualifications, and certifications: a content analysis of job postings in the United States.

Introduction: Growth in the field of clinical exercise science and the potential impacts on overall health and wellbeing have driven the need for qualified, clinically trained, exercise professionals. And yet, it is not well understood what specific credentials employers are seeking when hiring exercise professionals.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the qualification requirements for professionals seeking employment in exercise science, exercise physiology, kinesiology or equivalent fields.

Nutrition Interventions on Muscle-Related Components of Sarcopenia in Females: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Sarcopenia is a skeletal muscle disease categorized by low muscle strength, muscle quantity or quality, and physical performance. Sarcopenia etiology is multifaceted, and while resistance training is widely agreed upon for prevention and treatment, disease progression is also highly related to poor diet. The incidence of sarcopenia appears sex-specific and may be increased in females, which is problematic because dietary quality is often altered later in life, particularly after menopause.

Protocol: Can coronary artery calcium score identified on thoracic planning CT scans be used and actioned to identify cancer survivors at high risk of cardiac events: A feasibility study in cancer survivors undergoing radiotherapy in Australia.

Introduction: A coronary artery calcium (CAC) CT scan can identify calcified plaque and predict risk of future cardiac events. Cancer survivors undergoing thoracic radiotherapy routinely undergo a planning CT scan, which presents a unique opportunity to use already obtained medical imaging to identify those at the highest risk of cardiac events. While radiation therapy is an important modality for many cancer treatments, radiation dose to the heart in thoracic radiotherapy leads to cardiotoxicity and may accelerate pre-existing atherosclerosis.

Impact of vascular screening interventions on perceived threat, efficacy beliefs and behavioural intentions: a systematic narrative review.

Health-related behaviours contribute to the global burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiovascular imaging can be used to screen asymptomatic individuals for increased risk of CVD to enable earlier interventions to promote health-related behaviours to prevent or reduce CVD risk. Some theories of behaviour and behaviour change assume that engagement in a given behaviour is a function of individual threat appraisals, beliefs regarding the performance of behaviour, self-efficacy for performing the desired behaviour and/or dispositions to act (e.

Key takeaways for knowledge expansion of early-career scientists conducting Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC): a report from the TREC Training Workshop 2022.

The overall goal of the annual Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training Workshop is to provide transdisciplinary training for scientists in energetics and cancer and clinical care. The 2022 Workshop included 27 early-to-mid career investigators (trainees) pursuing diverse TREC research areas in basic, clinical, and population sciences. The 2022 trainees participated in a gallery walk, an interactive qualitative program evaluation method, to summarize key takeaways related to program objectives.

Looking back: a review of policy implications for exercise oncology.

The evidence to support the benefits of exercise for people living with and beyond cancer is robust. Still, exercise oncology interventions in the United States are only eligible for coverage by third-party payers within the restrictions of cancer rehabilitation settings. Without expanded coverage, access will remain highly inequitable, tending toward the most well-resourced.

Running Marathons in High School: A 5-Year Review of Injury in a Structured Training Program.

Objective: The aim in this study was to quantify the number, nature, and severity of injuries sustained by male and female high school students who took part in a running training program that culminated in the completion of a half or full marathon.

Design: This study is a retrospective clinical audit.

Methods: Injury reports from high school students (grades 9-12) who participated in a half or full marathon 30-week progressive training program comprising four training days per week (three running days and one cross-training day) were reviewed.

Provision of non-invasive coronary and carotid vascular imaging results on changes in diet and physical activity in asymptomatic adults: A scoping review.

Background: Although a healthy diet and physical activity have been shown to prevent or delay cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalizations and deaths, most adults do not meet current guidelines. Provision of coronary artery calcification (CAC) and carotid ultrasound (CUS) imaging results may motivate beneficial lifestyle changes. We scoped the existing literature for studies providing non-invasive vascular imaging results and reporting diet, physical activity, and/or anthropometric measures to identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for further research.

Building the plane while it's flying: implementation lessons from integrating a co-located exercise clinic into oncology care.

Background: Despite its therapeutic role during cancer treatment, exercise is not routinely integrated into care and implementation efforts are largely absent from the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate a strategy to integrate the workflow of a co-located exercise clinic into routine care within a private oncology setting in two clinics in the metropolitan region of Western Australia.

Methods: This prospective evaluation utilised a mixed methods approach to summarise lessons learned during the implementation of an integrated exercise workflow and supporting implementation plan.

Implementation barriers to integrating exercise as medicine in oncology: an ecological scoping review.

Purpose: While calls have been made for exercise to become standard practice in oncology, barriers to implementation in real-world settings are not well described. This systematic scoping review aimed to comprehensively describe barriers impeding integration of exercise into routine oncology care within healthcare systems.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across six electronic databases (since 2010) to identify barriers to implementing exercise into real-world settings.

We have the program, what now? Development of an implementation plan to bridge the research-practice gap prevalent in exercise oncology.

Background: Exercise has emerged as a promising therapy for people with cancer. Novel programs have been developed to translate research into practice; however, implementation barriers have limited their success in part because successful translation of exercise oncology research into practice requires context-specific implementation plans. The aim of this study was to employ the implementation mapping protocol to develop an implementation plan to support programming of a co-located exercise clinic and cancer treatment center.

Safety, Effectiveness, and Uptake of Exercise Medicine Integrated Within a Cancer Care Center.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and acceptability of an exercise clinic co-located within a cancer treatment center to identify best practices for integrating exercise medicine into cancer care.

Data Sources: Two-hundred thirty-seven patients were referred to the exercise clinic and completed self-report health and demographic questionnaires. Further assessments were conducted at baseline on 67 patients and following completion of the exercise program by 46 patients.

If you build it, will they come? Evaluation of a co-located exercise clinic and cancer treatment centre using the RE-AIM framework.

Objective: Employ the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a co-located exercise clinic model in increasing access to exercise for people undergoing cancer treatment in a private clinic in Western Australia.

Methods: This retrospective evaluation utilised a mixed-method approach to gather feedback from key stakeholder groups involved with the exercise clinic. Questionnaires and workout summary sheets were gathered from 237 exercise clinic participants over the 50-month evaluation period.

Bridging the gap between clinicians and fitness professionals: a challenge to implementing exercise as medicine.

Objective: Health clubs (HC) and personal trainers (PT) are traditional outlets for the promotion of physical activity (PA) and exercise programming. As physicians are increasingly being called on to write exercise prescriptions for their patients, this study sought to investigate the level of integration between the healthcare and fitness systems.

Design: An internet study was designed with five domains to understand physicians': (1) overall perception of HC, (2) appropriateness and recommendation of HC and PT to their patients, (3) attitude regarding specific aspects of HC, (4) support of patient participation in HC sponsored exercise and (5) elements of HC that physicians would like to know for referral.

Practice patterns, counseling and promotion of physical activity by sports medicine physicians.

Objectives: This study examined sports medicine physicians with an established interest in physical activity to investigate attitudes surrounding exercise, physical activity and patient-counseling behavior. The degree to which physicians' personal knowledge of physical activity and related resources, involvement with common activities, and perceived barriers were assessed.

Design: An internet survey was designed in four domains: (1) counseling behavior, (2) tools and resources, (3) appropriateness of common physical activities for patients and (4) barriers.