Project EXCEL (EXercise for Cancer to Enhance Living Well)
From Project EXCEL
It is a pleasure to write to you on behalf of the EXCEL team. Project EXCEL (EXercise for Cancer to Enhance Living Well) is an extension of our existing ACCESS (Activating Cancer Communities through an Exercise) program and will provide an exercise and behavior change program to rural and remote cancer survivors across Canada. EXCEL will offer programs both online, and where available, in-person. We are supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), and the Alberta Cancer Foundation (ACF).
Project EXCEL partnerships will facilitate referral networks between cancer clinics and local fitness professionals. By building partnerships at each site, EXCEL will facilitate patient transition from clinical care to the EXCEL program in their community (online or in-person).
We are looking to identify community partners and fitness professionals in rural/remote areas of Nova Scotia who are interested in delivering and leading exercise classes for cancer survivors in their community. Why would you want to be involved with EXCEL as a fitness professional?
- All training is FREE. Fitness professionals will receive evidence-based training from Thrive Health, and an additional EXCEL training day (July 30, 2020). These trainings will build your knowledge so you can confidently work with cancer survivors and the EXCEL program.
- Fitness leaders will be invited to additional online training webinars, focused on behaviour change, online delivery of fitness classes, maintaining social connections, and other topics.
- Fitness leaders will be paid to “moderate” online exercise classes during your first term (Fall 2020) of delivering the EXCEL program. Initially, our CSEP Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CEP), Joy Chiekwe will lead all the classes and will facilitate training and learning. It is hoped that by the end of the first session, your site(s) will be running the exercise class and facilitating education modules that accompany the classes. This progressive training ensures that everyone will feel comfortable running their own classes for the next session.
- It is our goal to create a network of fitness leaders who are experts in prescribing exercise for cancer survivors. This network will continue to provide outreach and education, while ensuring that we maintain the highest standards of practice when working with cancer survivors.
If you would like more information on the study and how to become involved as a community fitness partner, please complete the attached form and reply myself by email at melanie.keats@dal.ca.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to partnering with you on Project EXCEL.
| Melanie Keats, PhD Professor, School of Health and Human Performance Dalhousie University ACCESS Scientific Lead and EXCEL Co-PI E: melanie.keats@dal.ca |
Dr. Nicole Culos-Reed, PhD Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology, UCalgary EXCEL Principal Investigator E: nculosre@ucalgary.ca |