Assessing parkrun for walking rehabilitation for people living with, and beyond, cancer: acceptability, physical function, wellness and group support

Regular exercise for cancer survivors is strongly recommended yet the majority of individuals do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity. Common reasons for low participation rates include access issues, poor levels of baseline fitness, fitting exercise around medical appointments and treatments, disease symptoms and treatment side effects. This study will investigate the feasibility and efficacy of the weekly walk/run community event parkrun as a means of providing exercise, social connections and mental health management for people surviving cancers. The study has 4 data collection timepoints: T1 Baseline assessments; T2 Data collection after a 4-week control period (no intervention, normal daily activities); T3 completion of 6-month parkrun intervention; T4 2-month follow up. Parkrun can be a walk or run event, and is self-paced and well-monitored by volunteers, therefore has the potential to be a manageable, safe mode of exercise for individuals with low functional capacity. This project will investigate the feasibility of parkrun as a mode of physical activity for cancer survivors, with regard to acceptability, enjoyment and social identification for participants, and efficacy in maintaining or improving physical and functional status, and quality of life. This study is a 9-month prospective, cohort study, classified as a cross-over design where all participants act as their own controls and can engage in the same intervention. The study uses mixed methods. After recruitment, finalisation of informed consent procedures and screening, there will be a baseline data collection at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) exercise science laboratory (T1; medical history, physical assessments, surveys [including quality of life, physical activity levels, anxiety and depression, diet]) followed by 4 weeks of normal daily activities for participants (control period, no parkrun intervention). After 4 weeks (T2) all outcome measures will be assessed again at the USC laboratory prior to starting the parkrun intervention; participants will register with parkrun and then be encouraged to participate in their local parkrun walk event each Saturday morning or at their own discretion depending upon their health status. We understand that participants will have a variety of cancer types, and at different stages with varying types of treatments, and so may not be able to commit to doing weekly parkruns. After 6 months (T3), all outcome measures will be assessed again at the University laboratory and an additional paper survey of participant feedback and comments will be administered. There will be a 2-month follow-up (T4) of an additional survey (posted hard copy) seeking information on continuity of parkrun involvement, diet and exercise. The physical assessments and surveys will be administered by members of the research team who are academics and trained exercise physiologists with between 10 to 20 years experience; the dietary assessment questionnaire will be administered by a researcher who is a trained dietician of more than 10 years experience. Project participants will be community-dwelling out-patients. They may be undergoing treatments or in remission. They will have the choice of joining in a weekly parkrun for the 6 month intervention. Parkrun events are held at Sunshine Coast parks - Mujimba, Brightwater, Baringa, Kawana, Golden Beach, Nambour, Maleny and Noosa. Parkrun attendance is automatically monitored by the parkrun organisation itself as participants scan a personal barcode prior to beginning each event; the deidentified information is registered at parkrun thus adherence can be monitored through the study. Participants do not have to complete the full 5km walk or jog and can participate in the event at their own pace, and with social or carer support if needed. Research team members will be able to attend some of the parkrun events to meet with participants although we cannot attend every event at each location. Research team connection will help with participant adherence.