Feasibility and acceptability of a digital educational physical activity program for childhood cancer survivors

This pilot study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of a digital educational program for childhood cancer survivors (CCS). It is a 12-week intervention with a 3-month follow-up assessed remotely using our program. The project is looking to recruit 40 children who are 8-13 years old. Participants are survivors of cancer, each of whom have finished their cancer treatment for at least 12 months or are in the maintenance phase of leukemia chemotherapy. This project will offer young survivors access to an online distance-delivered intervention that focuses on healthy behaviours such as physical activity and unhealthy behaviours such as sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and sedentary behaviours. The intervention will involve: i. Two face-to-face consults to collect baseline and post-intervention assessments including assessment of cardiovascular fitness, body composition, physical activity levels, quality of life, health literacy and sugar-sweetened beverage intake. ii. Online educational modules that focus on healthy behaviours, unhealthy behaviours and physical activity goal setting. Mode of training include physical activities designed to include family and friends, short videos, quizzes, and interactive activities. Educational material was adapted from a previous study testing the educational program in 12-13 year old children. Participants are asked to complete one module per week for the 12 week intervention period (including baseline and follow-up), with each educational module taking approximately 45-60 minutes to complete. Any exercise undertaken by participants were at their own discretion. iii. A tablet with the online educational modules and corresponding activity tracker application. iv. Activity tracker to allow real-time feedback and motivation for step count goals. A corresponding app will be linked onto the tablet that provides daily, weekly and monthly step counts in conjunction with physical activity intensity (e.g. light, moderate or vigorous physical activity). This allows the user to assess their own physical activity levels over time and make goals to increase physical activity. Strategies used to monitor adherence to the intervention include accessing back office app analytics provided by our industry partner, BePatient.