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Southwest Florida Cancer Control Collaborative

Evidence-Based Interventions

  • Who: Breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy from paclitaxel or docetaxel

    What: Assessing gait, balance, and muscle strength, nerve conduction, and Quality of Life among breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. To participate, you must be experiencing neuropathy (tingling and numbness) and have completed chemotherapy for breast cancer > 6 months ago.

    Where: Home or community settings

    How: 16-week research study for women only testing the effects of a low-impact, home-based gait, balance, and strength training program that could provide needed relief. After a thorough evaluation at USF and incorporating just one hour of exercise using balancing techniques and strength-building Pilates flex bands into your day, you can regain much of the feeling in your hands and feet that you lost after chemotherapy treatments for your breast cancer.

    https://bhapistudy.com/

    Selected Publications

    • Schwab, L. P. & Visovsky, C. (2023). Psychological distress in breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: An integrative review. Frontiers in Oncology, 2023 Jan 10;12:1005083. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1005083. PMID: 36703798; PMCID: PMC9872004.
    • Teran-Wodzinski P, Haladay D, Vu T, Ji M, Coury J, Adams A, Schwab L, Visovsky C. Assessing gait, balance, and muscle strength among breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN): study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial. Trials. 2022;23(1):363. doi:10.1186/s13063-022-06294-w

  • Who: Older adults aged 65 years of age and older prescribed an FDA-approved oral anticancer medication (OAA).

    What: This portion of the intervention features a supportive, digitized, evidence-based symptom management toolkit for older adult patients receiving OAAs.

    Where: The symptom management toolkit can be used anywhere as long as the internet is accessible.

    How: This intervention targets the needs of older adults, aged ≥65 years, who are self-managing OAA treatment and related symptoms in the home environment. The symptom management toolkit provides relevant evidence-based information and self-management strategies for over 25 commonly experienced symptoms of cancer and OAA treatment. These toolkits, developed by Drs. Charles W. and Barbara Given, were tested in a recent NCI-funded randomized controlled trial. The toolkits provide descriptions of symptoms, common causes and strategies to prevent or manage symptoms, tips to guide communication with oncology providers regarding symptoms, and when to seek medical attention.

    https://health.usf.edu/nursing/research/researchers/victoria-marshall

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZTsVpD_sBc

    Selected Publications

    • Belcher, S., Mackler, E.,  Muluneh, B., Ginex, P., Anderson, M., Bettencourt, E. DasGupta, R., Elliott, J., Hall, E., Karlin, M., Kostoff, D., Marshall, V.K. Millisor, V., Molnar, M., Schneider, S., Tipton, J., Yackzan, S., LeFebvre, K., Sivakumaran, K., Waseem, H., Morgan, R. Guidelines™ to Support Patient Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications. Oncology Nursing Forum, 49(4), 279-295. https://doi.org/10.1188%2F22.ONF.279-295
    • Marshall, V. Given, B.A. (2020). Satisfaction with an Interactive Voice Response System & Symptom Management Toolkit Intervention to Improve Adherence and Symptoms Management in Patients Newly Prescribed an Oral Anticancer Agent. Oncology Nursing Forum, 47(6), 637-648. doi: 10.1188/20.ONF.637-648

  • Who: Community health workers, community advisory board members

    What: Human ethics training for community scientists adapted from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). The training is tailored for non-academic research staff with low English proficiency and limited research experience. The training is culturally informed incorporating factors such as the community makeup, language barriers, education levels, and the local community context. The training was approved a university Institutional Review Board and has been published and shared with scholars from the community-engaged research community.

    Where: Community settings

    How: The training comprises PowerPoint presentations, case-based scenarios, and role-play activities. To assess content knowledge and understanding, community health workers will complete a written test at the end of each module. To be considered trained in the protection of human subjects and eligible to participate in a research project, community health workers must correctly answer at least 80% of the test questions.

    Resources: Training modules are available upon request

    Selected Publications

    • Kue, J., Szalacha, L.A., Happ, M.B., Crisp, A.L., & Menon, U. (2018). Culturally relevant human subjects protection training: A case study in community-engaged research in the United States. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(1), 107-114. doi: 10.1007/s10903-017-0548-x