REACH Project
REACH project
About this page:
This page is for researchers and health care professionals that want to know more about the REACH project.
Aim
The REACH project is conducted under the SETU President's scholarship. It aims at developing a suite of resources that can be easily delivered from health care professionals and cancer support centres. These resources aim at accomodating individuals' need and preferences by following a person-centred approach. To ensure physical activity is adopted and sustained, behaviour change theory informs the material that guide goal setting, planning, monitoring and other actions needed for physical activity self-management. As physical activity needs inherent enjoyment to be sustained over time, people's preferences are given priority by including both resources for individual and group training, as well as outdoor and indoor exercises options.
Methods
To develop a suite of resources that is evidence-based and theory-driven, an enivronmental scan of previous scientific studies, as well as available online resources and programs for people living with and beyond cancer will be conducted.
In the meanwhile, an online survey will be disseminated to people living in the Republic of Ireland to measure the prevalence of people engaging in physical activity in this country and understand their preferences and needs. This is in line with the person-centred and context-specific approach of the REACH project.
What learned from the survey and the screen of available reosurces will be discussed with people living with and beyond cancer in a focus group format. This would allow to select the reosurces that people deem more relevant to understand the benefits of physical activity and start engaging in some form of exercise.
The resources selected in the focus groups will be tested for feasibiity and usability in a brief pilot-study, to be then distributed nationwide. The implementation study will not only evaluate the effectiveness of the resources in increasing the physical activity levels at the individual level, but also compare effectiveness of the different format of resources.
Impact
The developed resources will be made available to the public through the present website to be easily accessed from a unique platform. A systematic dissemination of the platform and the related resources will be made through cancer support centres and willing health care professionals. A blog will be included for people to share doubts and positive experiences with the scope to create a lively community to support beginners and their caregivers.