Defining adolescent and young adult (AYA) exercise and nutrition needs: Concerns communicated in an online cancer support community

Love, Brad; Moskowitz, Michal C.; Crook, Brittani; Thompson, Charee M.; Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Stegenga, Kristin; Macpherson, Catherine Fiona; Johnson, Rebecca H.

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2013.02.011

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…It has been found that AYA are less physically active than non-diagnosed siblings or peers and that their unmet need for exercise information is greater than that reported for older cancer survivors [19,20]. Three studies have included this patient cohort, and all describe a high level of interest of AYA in participating in, and receiving information on, exercise and physical activity [15,17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors: exercise habits, quality of life and physical activity preferences

Murnane

Gough

Thompson

et al. 2014

Support Care Cancer

103

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Findings suggest that AYA with cancer experience a significant impact on physical activity levels and QoL. Moreover, survivors experience considerable difficulty returning to premorbid levels of activity. Our study suggests that interventions promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviours would be well accepted within this population and may be essential to improve their long-term health and QoL during survivorship.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors: exercise habits, quality of life and physical activity preferences

Murnane

Gough

Thompson

et al. 2014

Support Care Cancer

103

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“…Community members discuss feeling forced to simultaneously manage the work of deliberately shifting food-consumption patterns while grappling with body-image issues related to weight gain. Such feelings indicate an area for nursing or social work support to overcome challenges common to young adult nutrition and exercise concerns [77]. Support services focused on helping young adults affected by cancer manage needed nutrition changes can help routinize and ease the burden of practical barriers such as learning to cook.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Knowledge of the food and exercise behaviors that help young adults feel empowered relating to their futures could play a useful role in supportive educational interventions, where the need for nutritionally focused efforts is particularly acute. Little research has examined nutritional/dietary interventions for cancer survivors in general [78], and almost none looks into young adults specifically [77]. This line of research into nutritionally influenced health and identity outcomes presents significant potential for impact on young adults’ cancer trajectories.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work and “Mass Personal” Communication as Means of Navigating Nutrition and Exercise Concerns in an Online Cancer Community

Love¹,

Thompson²,

Crook³

et al. 2013

J Med Internet Res

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BackgroundHealth and psychosocial outcomes for young adults affected by cancer have improved only minimally in decades, partially due to a lack of relevant support and information. Given significant unmet needs involving nutrition and exercise, it is important to understand how this audience handles information about food and fitness in managing their cancer experiences.ObjectiveUsing the theory of illness trajectories as a framework, we explored how four lines of work associated with living with a chronic illness such as cancer (illness, everyday life, biographical, and the recently explicated construct of communication work) impacts and is impacted by nutrition and exercise concerns.MethodsFollowing a search to extract all nutrition- and exercise-related content from the prior 3 years (January 2008 to February 2011), a sample of more than 1000 posts from an online support community for young adults affected by cancer were qualitatively analyzed employing iterative, constant comparison techniques. Sensitized by illness trajectory research and related concepts, 3 coders worked over 4 months to examine the English-language, de-identified text files of content.ResultsAn analysis of discussion board threads in an online community for young adults dealing with cancer shows that nutrition and exercise needs affect the young adults’ illness trajectories, including their management of illness, everyday life, biographical, and communication work. Furthermore, this paper helps validate development of the “communication work” variable, explores the “mass personal” interplay of mediated and interpersonal communication channels, and expands illness trajectory work to a younger demographic than investigated in prior research.ConclusionsApplying the valuable concepts of illness, everyday life, biographical, and communication work provides a more nuanced understanding of how young adults affected by cancer handle exercise and nutrition needs. This knowledge can help provide support and interventional guidance for the well-documented psychosocial challenges particular to this demographic as they manage the adversities inherent in a young adult cancer diagnosis. The research also helps explain how these young adults meet communication needs in a “mass personal” way that employs multiple communication channels to meet goals and thus might be more effectively reached in a digital world.

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“…36,56,67,76 Other cancers mentioned were osteosarcoma, 73 rhabdomyosarcoma, 55 testicular, 11 skin, 23 cervical, 37,53,59,65 ovarian, 21, lung, 34 and colorectal. 14,24 Cancer in general was the focus of 21 articles (30.4%),9,15,19,20,31–33,38,40,44,46–48,52,54,57,62–64,70,72 and 11 (15.9%) discussed multiple types of cancer. 18,27,34,39,49–51,61,68,69,71 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8,10,12,16,17,25,26,30,35,39,41,42,45 In the articles about cancer in general, authors described how social media users often posted content about cancer treatments (e.g., prescriptions, chemotherapy, radiation) as well as disease outcomes and expectations (n =13; 18.8%). 9,15,18,31–33,39,40,46,48,52,54,70 For example, 1 article described the use of a social media site to encourage women with gynecologic cancers to discuss their concerns related to sexual distress, anxiety, and depression arising from their diagnosis and treatment. 18 Less often, researchers discussed research about cancer prevention information on social media sites (n = 3; 4.3%).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use and Taxonomy of Social Media in Cancer-Related Research: A Systematic Review

et al. 2014

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Little is known about how social media are used in cancer care. We conducted a systematic review of the use and taxonomy of social media in cancer-related studies, in PubMed, Web of Knowledge, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We located 1350 articles published through October 2013; 69 met study inclusion criteria. Early research (1996–2007) was predominantly descriptive studies of online forums. Later, researchers began analyzing blogs, videos shared on YouTube, and social networking sites. Most studies (n = 62) were descriptive, and only 7 reported intervention studies published since 2010. Future research should include more intervention studies to determine how social media can influence behavior, and more empirical research is needed on how social media may be used to reduce health disparities.

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Defining adolescent and young adult (AYA) exercise and nutrition needs: Concerns communicated in an online cancer support community

Cited by 19 publications

References 11 publications

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors: exercise habits, quality of life and physical activity preferences

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors: exercise habits, quality of life and physical activity preferences

Work and “Mass Personal” Communication as Means of Navigating Nutrition and Exercise Concerns in an Online Cancer Community

Use and Taxonomy of Social Media in Cancer-Related Research: A Systematic Review

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