New Research Partnership Launched between Solas and SETU
Working in partnership with the School of Health Sciences, South East Technological University (SETU), the Solas Cancer Support Centre has launched a 10-week, instructor-led dance class, based in the SETU Arena. The dance type will incorporate a routine aimed at younger women to undertake light to moderate intensity exercise after treatment or surgery and will be accompanied by a friend throughout the intervention..
The Dance Exercise Intervention in Survivorship Evaluation (DEISE Project) is a National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) funded initiative and starts on Thursday 20th April.
Manager Tracy McDaid explains more ‘The service sees a high percentage of younger women (18 to 45 years) post-treatment each year. In recovery, they may have returned to their normal routine but report how different they now feel. We are often asked to host Peer Support Groups for this cohort of clients and have struggled to establish the right model. We hope that this new support option is suitable, particularly as participants are invited to bring a friend or family member to the session. We hope that these ‘dance buddies’ will encourage participants during the 10 weeks’.
An exciting part of this new program is the collaboration with a research team in SETU who will look at the acceptability of this exercise intervention for younger women. Professor Martina Gooney, the lead researcher on the project, explains the aims of this project- ‘Working with the Solas Cancer Support Centre the program aims to encourage participants to be fit and active in a friendly, safe and enjoyable environment, to support engagement with younger women who have similar experiences and to promote and develop physical activity to support recovery from cancer treatment. The SETU research team are looking forward to engaging with participants a number of times during the 10 weeks in undertaking short questionnaires about their experiences of the dance classes’.
This new free dance class will start on Thursday 20th April at 7pm. Classes will last an hour and will be facilitated by professional dance instructors. Participants should be 6 weeks post-treatment or surgery and is open to women aged 18 to 45 who have a primary lymphoma, leukaemia, or breast cancer diagnosis. Participants do not need to be a client of the Solas Cancer Support Centre. To register please contact the Solas Cancer Support Centre by phone on 051 304604 or email research@solascentre.ie