Review: Tailoring Exercise Oncology to Meet the Needs of Black Individuals Living with and Beyond Cancer
Thanks to the support of the Community Network Grant and the OEA Team, the Black Wellness Co-Op was able to connect in community and open up conversations around exercise and physical activity for Black individuals living with and beyond cancer and their support systems.
Our project highlighted the power of culturally grounded, community-led approaches to supporting Black individuals living with and beyond cancer. Using the RE-AIM framework, BWC created safe, welcoming spaces across several Nova Scotian Black communities where participants could openly share their experiences, fears, and questions around cancer, wellness, and physical activity - many for the first time. These conversations reached 42 unique participants, mostly older Black women, revealing both the program’s strong connection with the community and important gaps, particularly the underrepresentation of Black men and those facing mobility or transportation barriers.
What stood out most was the program’s effectiveness. Participants consistently described feeling heard, validated, and less alone, especially in contrast to their experiences within the healthcare system where follow-up care and guidance around post-treatment exercise were often lacking. The Black-led facilitation was repeatedly identified as essential, fostering trust, cultural safety, and openness that participants felt would not have been possible in more generalized programs. The program’s flexible, trauma-informed implementation allowed discussions to be shaped by participants’ lived realities, while also uncovering systemic gaps in cancer survivorship support.
While long-term sustainability remains a challenge due to funding and capacity limitations, the strong community demand for ongoing programming and the emergence of locally driven wellness initiatives point to meaningful potential for maintenance and growth. Overall, this project demonstrates how community-based, Black-led wellness initiatives can advance health equity, reduce isolation, and amplify voices that have historically been excluded from cancer care and survivorship conversations.
We look forward to continuing this work by a continued collaboration with community to develop and implement sustainable programming!
