Exercising Together: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Partnered Exercise Training on the Health of Couples Coping with Cancer-Promote Diversity

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Supplement Abstract African American (AA) survivors of common cancers - prostate (PC), colorectal (CRC), or breast cancer (BC) - have poorer outcomes than non-Hispanic White survivors and if married, spouse/partner and relationship health is adversely impacted. Research studying the impact of strategies to improve outcomes in AAs and their intimate partners is scarce. Targeted recruitment which incorporates culturally relevant strategies may help with AA participants’ interest in/willingness to be screened for and participate in couples-based research. The parent grant to this supplement is an efficacy trial (the Exercising Together trial; R01CA218093) to determine the benefits of teamwork, through a partnered exercise program, on physical, emotional, and relationship health among cancer survivors and their intimate partners. Enrollment of AA couples in the parent study has fallen short of anticipated rates, providing an opportunity for supplement project to employ community-engaged and culturally relevant strategies to enhance enrollment of AA couples coping with cancer in the parent study and also an impetus to collect preliminary data for a future trial specifically in AA couples coping with cancer. The research project will use a Community Engagement Studio approach in two different regions of the U.S. (Pacific Northwest and Southeast) to identify facilitators and barriers to AA couples’ participation in couples- based exercise research and specifically in the Exercising Together protocol. Community Engagement Studios will be conducted in Portland, OR (to inform adaptations to the parent study) and Knoxville, TN (to provide context for future research). Investigators will use information from the Community Engagement Studio to develop, implement, and evaluate culturally relevant recruitment strategies and delivery of the Exercising Together program that will promote engagement of AA couples coping with cancer. This supplement also supports training for a young, underrepresented investigator in an effort to increase diversity in the cancer- and health-related research workforce. The training opportunity will strengthen the trainee’s skillset in using community-engaged approaches to adapt a program for AA couples with cancer. This supplement will provide the trainee with a new opportunity to work with cancer survivors and their intimate partners, a demographic that can benefit both physically and emotionally from the dyadic approach of the parent study. This moves the trainee toward her goal of reducing health disparities and advances her training to introduce an important clinical population in terms of incidence and mortality in the U.S. The experience will culminate in the submission of an independent grant proposal that in combination with the mentorship and skills this supplement provides, will help steer her toward her goal of achieving an independently funded research program. In summary, this unique and culturally relevant couples-based approach could increase the potential impact of the parent study, and the work of this supplement overall could ultimately contribute to reduced cancer disparities.