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. 2025 Mar 20;32(3):181.
doi: 10.3390/curroncol32030181.

Exploring Healthcare Provider Experiences with the EXCEL Exercise Referral Pathway for Individuals Living with and Beyond Cancer

Alexandra Finless  1   2   3 , Mannat Bansal  4 , Thomas Christensen  2 , S Nicole Culos-Reed  4   5   6 , Colleen A Cuthbert  6   7 , Julianna Dreger  4 , Jodi E Langley  1   2   3 , Melanie R Keats  1   2   3
Affiliations

Exploring Healthcare Provider Experiences with the EXCEL Exercise Referral Pathway for Individuals Living with and Beyond Cancer

Alexandra Finless et al. Curr Oncol. .

Abstract

Exercise is an evidence-based strategy shown to reduce the negative side effects associated with cancer treatment for individuals living with and beyond cancer (LWBC). Healthcare providers (HCPs) play a critical role in promoting exercise for these individuals. Notwithstanding, several barriers hinder HCPs' ability to discuss and support exercise in clinical practice. EXCEL is an exercise intervention designed to address health disparities in access to exercise oncology resources for rural/remote individuals LWBC, including a referral pathway for HCPs to use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate HCP experiences using the EXCEL exercise referral pathway. We employed an interpretive description methodology, using semi-structured interviews to assess HCP experiences with EXCEL. Overall, HCPs felt empowered to refer to exercise when they were supported in doing so. The findings highlighted (1) a need for a better understanding of the role of exercise professionals and their integration into cancer care; (2) the need for efficient referral systems including embedding referrals into existing health care electronic record systems; and (3) sharing patient feedback with exercise oncology programs back to the HCPs to drive continued referrals.

Keywords: exercise; healthcare provider; oncology; qualitative research; referral.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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