The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a Hispanic adapted culturally relevant Exercising Together© intervention (HACER) through a single-arm pilot in post-treatment Hispanic men with prostate cancer and their caregivers.
Dyads participated together in a live, remote group-based 12-week exercise intervention with resistance training three times a week. Primary outcomes were intervention feasibility and acceptability. Secondary outcomes were measures of physical and psychosocial health. Assessments were completed at baseline and post-intervention. Mean difference and effect sizes were calculated to determine intervention effects.
Accrual of eligible dyads was 75%. Fourteen eligible dyads were allocated to intervention. Attendance averaged 62%. Retention was 79% with 95% assessment completion. Participants rated HACER as acceptable and 86% would recommend the program to other dyads. Self-reported physical activity level and objective physical function improved for survivors and caregivers, with clinically significant improvement in caregiver depressive symptoms.
HACER was feasible and acceptable with modest improvements in physical and psychosocial health, especially for Hispanic survivors. HACER shows promise as a scalable intervention to improve health outcomes for Hispanic cancer survivors and caregivers when they train together; a larger, fully powered efficacy trial is warranted.
Cancer medicine. 2026 Mar [Epub]
Meghan B Skiba, Juan Contreras, Marjorie A Nelson, Alejandro Recio-Boiles, David O Garcia, Floyd H Chilton, Chris Segrin, Terry A Badger, Kerri M Winters-Stone
Nursing and Health Sciences Division, College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA., University of Arizona, Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA., Department of Communication, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA., Department of Oncological Sciences, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.