ActWELL Update

Amy Hickman, Volunteer Service Co-ordinator, Breast Cancer Now

As part of the Scottish Government cancer strategy, a team of researchers are now working with Breast Cancer Now on a trial of a lifestyle intervention programme (ActWELL) introduced to women at breast cancer screening and delivered by Breast Cancer Now volunteer coaches. If you would like more information about the study please visit actwellstudy.org when it goes live in August.

Breast Cancer Now has had a fantastic response to recruitment for ActWELL volunteer lifestyle coaches. In total they received 102 applications, from
which 52 applicants were invited to an information and selection session. Following this, 26 volunteers were invited to the first ActWELL training, which took place over two days in June. The training was delivered by a fabulous team made up of staff from the University of Dundee, the University of Edinburgh and Breast Cancer Now.

Participants were welcomed by Baroness Delyth Morgan, CEO of Breast Cancer Now, who highlighted the charity’s commitment to achieving ‘A future where everybody who develops breast cancer lives – and lives well’. Breast Cancer Now’s team of lifestyle coaches bring with them a wide range of skills and experiences. Many come from a health professional background, including nurses, GPs and dietitians while others work as fitness instructors, counsellors, and teachers or in the voluntary sector. These lifestyle coaches will offer one-to-one support around sustainable lifestyle changes, focussing on physical activity (principally walking), diet and body weight, to participants recruited to the trial.

https://news.gov.scot/news/reducing-breast-cancer-risk

Watch this space for more updates once the trial is underway.

This article was originally published in The SCPN Newsletter Volume 8, Issue 3. Read the digital newsletter below using Issuu, or feel free to download the PDF.