Better Choices Better Health: Cancer
This internet program for cancer survivors was developed and evaluated in a one-year randomized trial in partnership with the University of Hawaii. The program was modeled after the Internet Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP), also known as Better Choices Better Health. Each workshop is six weeks, with new lessons posted each week. 
Subjects include: 1) healthy eating, 2) creating a physical activity program, 3) managing stress, 4) working with health care providers, 5) better communication with family, friends, co-workers and providers, 6) managing emotions and relationships, 7) managing fatigue, and 8) effects of treatment.
Get in Touch
National Council on Aging, Center for Healthy Aging1901 L Street, NW, 4th floor
Washington,, DC 20036
United States (US)
cancer@selfmanage.org
202-479-6635
What People are Saying
“This course came at the right time for me – 1 year on from the end of chemotherapy and just as I was re negotiating my hours and returning to work. It offered anonymity and I could be honest.”
“I would love to think that everyone who gets cancer might in future be offered something like this as support at a difficult time.”
Program Details
Settings/Facilities
Secure online system. Participants log on at their convenience 2-3 times each week, total of 1-2 hours.
Duration
Six weeks
Program Costs
Costs Include
Outcomes
Three-hundred fifty-two cancer survivors who had completed treatment within the last five years completed baseline questionnaires and where randomized to receive the program or serve as a usual-care control group. Participants actively engaged in the program, with over 1000 posts per workshop and a mean of over 1200 visits to various pages of the program per participant.
People who took the program more than 2 years after cancer treatment, compared to those who did not, showed significant changes in insomnia, exercise, fatigue, visits to physicians, communication with physicians, and depression.
Materials
All content provided online.
Staffing
Two trained volunteer leaders, one or both of whom are peers who are cancer survivors themselves.
Individual vs. Group
Small Group
Mode
Online
Data Requirements
Languages
