Geocaching for promoting physical activity in childhood cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the feasibility and acceptability of geocaching for promoting physical activity in childhood cancer patients and their families
IRAS ID
235271
Contact name
Shaunna Burke
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 12 months, 0 days
Research summary
Survivors of childhood cancer are at an increased risk of future health problems such as cardiovascular disease, secondary malignancy, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Physical activity can help to prevent these treatment-related late effects. However, research shows that 50–70% of childhood cancer patients do not meet the recommended physical activity guidelines and most childhood cancer patients are less active than their healthy peers. Family-based interventions involving modern technology such as geocaching may offer an enjoyable and promising new approach to increase physical activity in childhood cancer patients and their families. Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunt activity that uses GPS-enabled technology to locate hidden caches and has received little attention in the paediatric exercise oncology literature. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a geocaching intervention designed to encourage participation in physical activity among childhood cancer patients and their parents/carers. 10 child parent(or carer) dyads and 10 health professionals will be recruited to this feasibility study. Together, children and their parents or carers will participate in a geocaching intervention and will afterwards be interviewed to explore their views and experiences of geocaching. Health professionals will participate in a focus group interview to determine their views on the feasibility of geocaching both inside and outside the hospital setting. Results of this study will provide preliminary insight into whether geocaching may offer an enjoyable and acceptable approach to increase physical activity from the perspective of childhood cancer patients and their parents/carers. The emergent themes identified from the data will also be used to determine health practitioners views on geocaching as a physical activity promotion strategy in this population. Indicative outcomes related to the acceptability and feasibility of geocaching will provide important information for the design (or not) of a larger, definitive study.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
17/NI/0225
Date of REC Opinion
22 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion