Lessons Learned from Breast Cancer Dragon Boaters

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Lessons Learned from Breast Cancer Dragon
Boaters

• Presenters
• Eleanor Nielsen Franci Finkelstein

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Collaborators

• Investigators Terry Mitchell, Ph.D.,
  C.Psych.Ross Gray, Ph.D., Marg Fitch, Ph.D,
  Edmee Franseen, M.Sc., Robert Gebotys, Ph.D.
• Community Advisory Group Eleanor Nielsen, Franci
  Finkelstein, Bonnie Marshall, Donnas Stuart
  Doris Rossi
• Research Coordinator Kara Griffin
• Student Research Assistant Saba Sharih
• Organizational Support The Ontario Breast Cancer
  Community Research Initiative The Centre for
  Research and Womens Health

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Dragon Boating

• Dragon boating is an ancient Chinese sport,
  dating back more than 2000 years
• Women with breast cancer began training with
  Dr. McKenzie in Vancouver, 1996

Vancouvers Abreast In A Boat team
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Methodology/Methods

• A community-based participatory,
• qualitative and quantitative study
• Series of 60 qualitative interviews
• Survey development workshop
• 408 standardized surveys

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Survey 4 standardized measures were employed

• QOL Quality of Life
• MAC Mental Adjustment to Cancer
• PCL Post Traumatic Stress
• STS Transcendence
• Plus a Demographic sheet and a space to answer
  In your own words the most important thing for
  people to understand about survivor dragon
  boating and your health and well-being.

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Survey Findings to Date

• Dragon boaters had greater burden of illness than
  most other study samples on breast cancer and
  PTSD in the literature.
• Significantly less post traumatic stress found
  among the dragon boaters as compared to other
  studies of women with breast cancer.

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Participants

• Interview Participants (n60)
• 34 -78 years in age
• diagnosed between 2001 and 1974
• Survey participants (N 408)
• 27 81 years in age

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Legend Dragon boat
teams/participants
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Demographics
Frequencies Age Years since diagnosis Years
dragon boating Stage Marital Status Recurrence Tre
atments Intensity of training
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Themes

• Inspiring Hope
• Awakening to the Self
• Regaining Control
• Becoming Strong(er)
• Living Life to the Fullest.

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Inspiring Hope

• A symbol of hope to those who need it... I think
  we're a
• highly visible symbol of successful breast cancer
  treatments
• to a lot of people That is an enormous symbol of
  hope for
• people who are newly diagnosed....We're a very,
  very,
• visible example of a group of women who are doing
• something and having fun doing it and living life
• to the fullest.

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• Dragons of Hope, Thunder Bay

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Regaining Control

• Chemo sucks you dry. By the time you're
  finished, you have a shell of your former self...
  The cancer I can't control that, but this was
  something I control. I could get stronger and I
  could be a part of this team.

• Warriors of Hope, North Bay

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Becoming Strong(er)

• And because breast cancer assaults our bodies,
  its the place where the fear lurks with our
  bodies and so psychologically to feel the power
  in our bodies is very important
• Weve gone through what weve gone through, and
  look where we are today. Were in boats paddling,
  and paddling hard and paddling strong. And
  feeling alive and feeling that you can do
  anything, that you can take on the world. Its a
  real sense of accomplishment.

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• Embracing Life

Dragons Abreast, Toronto
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Public Awareness
Private Experience
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LESSONS FROM DRAGON BOATERS

• B.C. is a chronic disease support required
• Living with NED
• Living well with Cancer
• Centering on the Self- gender and health
• All in the same boat, sister-ship and silent
  knowing
• The opportunity to understand death as a part of
  our lives and in turn to embrace life as a gift
  and to live each day more fully and freely.
• Power of community/culture? LIFE-style
• Celebration and resistance-
• rebirth of facing mortality
• shifting the public attitude of cancer as a death
  sentence of being a vicitim

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Living Life to the Fullest

• Its my venue to life, you know. Its my new
  gymnastics. Its my new adventure exhilaration.
  You know it, its my empowerment. I go out there
  and I paddle my ass off and push myself to the
  edge and then some.

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The Potential of Survivor Dragon Boating

• Dragon boating is an alternative to short-term
  interventions that focus on exercise or social
  support
• Exercise, social support, and an increased sense
  of control improve womens health status and
  their quality of life
• Social support and emotional expression mediate
  anxiety, denial, anger, depression and altered
  self-image

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Conclusion

• Survivor Dragon Boating is a wholistic
  post-treatment life-style for breast cancer
  survivors
• Dragon Boating powerfully addresses the mind,
  body and spirit and womens desire to live life
  to the fullest

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This research is possible through the generous
funding of
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As of the year 2000 there were
76,402 Women in Ontario
Living WithBreast Cancer

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Ontario Breast Cancer Community Research
InitiativeA partnership of Canadian Breast
Cancer Foundation, Ontario Chapter , (PBRU) The
Centre for Research and Womens Health
Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre
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Psychosocial impact of survivor dragon
boating study

• WHAT ?
• Assess health impact and quality of life issues
  of survivor dragon boating.

• WHY ?
• Very little attention has been given to
  survivorship and post-treatment quality of life
  issues
• Little is known about the psychosocial impact
  of dragon boating
• Little is known about health within illness