Stay Strong

STAYSTRONG Cancer Survivorship Program

Thriving with, through and BEYOND CANCER

STAYSTRONG Cancer Survivorship Program

Thriving with, through, and BEYOND CANCER New Brunswick has the highest rates of newly diagnosed breast cancer and lung cancer cases in the country, and the second-highest rate of new cancer cases overall. It may come as no surprise to most, as we all have someone close to us touched by this illness. Family, friends, neighbours and co-workers have countless personal experiences of how cancer has changed their lives.

And while the number of cancer diagnoses in our province is alarming, what happens after treatment is inspiring.

Horizon’s Saint John Regional Hospital’s Stay Strong Program brings cancer patients together to build strength and hope. The collaborative survivorship program has helped hundreds of cancer survivors take control of their bodies once they have completed their cancer treatments.

SURVIVORSHIP In cancer, survivorship focuses on the health and life of a person with cancer, post treatment, until the end of life. It covers the physical, psychosocial, and economic issues of cancer, beyond the diagnosis and treatment phases.

PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL SUPPORT Life doesn’t immediately go back to normal after radiation or chemotherapy. Cancer patients often have long-term physical and emotional effects after treatment. Stay Strong’s objective is to minimize the negative side effects that patients tend to experience from cancer treatments, focusing on physical activity.

Cancer care doesn't end just because treatment is done.

An important first step for cancer patients is to reassert control over their bodies and their lives.

The program includes individualized exercise regimens aimed at improving cardiovascular fitness, strength, endurance and flexibility, as well as regularly scheduled workshops to support their transition back to ‘regular’ life after cancer.

The program has evolved into a community of cancer patients who care and support each other because they understand what it means to “live with cancer.” After the twelve-week program, participants proudly wear their Stay Strong t-shirt. It is their badge of honour, their calling card that says to others, “I’m living with cancer, and so can you.”

Survivorship includes issues related to the ability to get health care and follow-up treatment, late effects of treatment, second cancers, and quality of life.

Family members, friends, and caregivers are also considered part of the survivorship experience.

- National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health

I’ve been an oncology nurse most of my career, and until I came to the Stay Strong Program, I didn’t realize how we weren’t meeting the mental and emotional needs of our patients. This program not only helps them physically, to get their strength back from treatment, but it’s the support. This program becomes their family Gina Spear-Burrows, Registered Nurse

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STAYSTRONG Cancer Survivorship Program

These are my friends, and this is my support group.

And it’s absolutely necessary to keep me going. I tell them to put me back together.”

Jill McMullin, Cancer Survivor

PROGRAM SUCCESS The combined force of this peer-to-peer support network, with the personalized care of health professionals, is what makes the Stay Strong Program so successful. It has a 95% completion rate, and of those who complete the program, 35% continue with their health journey. They continue to exercise as well as gain and offer support to friends and new participants.

Supporting Cancer Survivors in your Community We are inviting companies to support this vital program. Our goal is to partner with 50 companies pledging $50,000 over 5 years, raising 2.5 Million dollars to create an endowment fund ensuring a sustainable Cancer Survivorship Program for years to come. Community generosity can change the lives of patients and their families by helping create a holistic cancer survivorship model supporting all cancer survivors.

Impact to Care · Funding stability for program in the future · Increase patient access to the twelve-week program · Broaden scope of services · Enhance research opportunities and evolution of programming

How participant lives are transformed • Access to nurse and physiotherapist trained in oncology • Personalized training program • Regain physical strength • Peer-to-peer support and encouragement • Reduced anxiety and depression improving quality of life • Quarterly patient education sessions on survivorship issues including coping strategies, nutrition, intimacy, and spirituality • Connects graduates with new participants • A unique 12- week free exercise program at the YMCA Research shows that exercise may reduce the risk of recurrence of cancer in up to 40% of patients.

I firmly believe that the Stay Strong Program helped save my life. It’s so important, and I can’t tell you how positive my experience was.

Peter McDevitt, Cancer Survivor

I want this program to grow, so that others have the support they need to get back to life after cancer.

Karen Adams, Breast Cancer Survivor

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There is Life AFTER CANCER

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Contact Us Thegive.ca 506.648.6400