EXCEL-Punjabi: the process of using a community based participatory research approach for a culturally-tailored exercise oncology intervention

Background Physical activity is an effective evidence-based intervention with extensive physical and psychosocial benefits for individuals living with and beyond cancer. Despite being the largest visible minority group in Canada, uptake of currently available exercise interventions, such as the Canada-wide Exercise for Cancer to Enhance Living Well (EXCEL) study, is low among individuals of South Asian heritage living with and beyond cancer. Culturally tailored programming may help to address barriers to participation. Methods Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we worked with a Punjabi Advisory Board to identify culturally specific gaps and adaptation needs for the EXCEL intervention. CBPR activities included: capacity bridging, identifying community needs and priorities, co-designing and tailoring the intervention, ethics submission, and collaboration on research outputs. Results These collaborative efforts resulted in the development of the EXCEL-Punjabi, a culturally tailored exercise oncology intervention. Specific changes made to the EXCEL study included language of delivery, family involvement, educational handouts rather than webinars, culturally specific recruitment strategies, and one-on-one support for completing questionnaires. Conclusion Ongoing collaboration with the Punjabi Advisory Board will allow for quality improvement of the intervention. The work outlined herein provides transparency of the CBPR process followed for the cultural tailoring of pre-existing exercise oncology programming. Future work will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the EXCEL-Punjabi intervention. Overall, building a culturally tailored intervention with community input allows for more underserved individuals to experience the physical and psychosocial benefits of exercise oncology programming. This work represents a step towards more equitable supportive cancer care.