Oliver Wilson, Ph.D.

Postdoc Fellow

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Physical activity (PA) offers many benefits to breast cancer (BC) survivors, including reduced risk of recurrence and BC specific and all-cause mortality. However, there are significant disparities in PA participation among female BC survivors who are medically underserved and underrepresented in cancer research.

The aim of this study is to acquire feedback on the structure and content of surveys that will examine the:

• Perspectives of health care providers (e.g., oncologists) and professionals who receive PA referrals (e.g., clinical exercise physiologists) on individual, clinical, behavioral, and contextual factors influencing discussions and shared decision-making about PA among BC survivors.
• Experiences, needs, and preferences related to PA participation among female BC survivors medically underserved and underrepresented in cancer research.

Dr. Wilson’s team will recruit health care providers (n=5), professionals who receive PA referrals (n=5), and BC survivors (n=25; including Asian, Black, and Hispanic individuals; income <$25,000; ≤ high school education) residing in the United States. Cognitive interviews will be conducted with these individuals to gauge their feedback on the structure and content of draft surveys being developed for a planned observational study that will be deployed to a larger sample of key informants. Interviews will collect information on individual, clinical, behavioral, and contextual factors influencing PA among female BC survivors.

Dr. Wilson’s team will acquire new knowledge on factors influencing PA among female BC survivors from the perspectives of key informants. The proposed cognitive interviews are the first stage of a formative evaluation of key informant perspectives to support the development of a web-based clinical decision tool to deliver personalized PA recommendations for BC survivors.