A part of the population that benefits from contact with nature are cancer survivors. Among them, adolescents and young adults with cancer (in short: AYA) are a particularly vulnerable group (defined by the US National Cancer Institute as those diagnosed at the age between 15 and 39 years).
Promoting health for the young
Young cancer survivors often experience long-term and late effects of the cancer itself or of the cancer treatment. They can have problems with memory and concentration, fatigue, anxiety, secondary cancer (later in life), diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels, problems with getting pregnant and poor mental health.
These long-term and late effects can pose a high burden on young people when trying to navigate life while being in the cancer patient pathway (explanation in English at Helsedirektoratet).
It may be extra demanding during cancer survival to maintain friendships or build new relationships, and trying to keep up with school, studies or build a career. Something as simple as keeping track of your own finances can be heavy and challenging.
In order to meet the needs of these young cancer survivors, it is important to investigate and develop effective health promotion strategies that are adapted to them.
Wilderness program in Scandinavia
Previous studies have shown that being in nature, via a wilderness program, promotes the health and well-being of young cancer survivors. Until recently, these programs did not exist in any of the Scandinavian countries, but we wanted to do something about that.
We therefore developed a wilderness program in Sweden, designed for AYA cancer survivors who are in various phases of their cancer pathway. We took them along in many different terrains and landscapes (forests, wetlands, rocky heights and plateaus, sandy beaches, islands, lakes and the open sea).
There they were able to experience various activities based on mindfulness such as forest bathing, active listening to nature and walks in silence. In addition, they experienced hiking, rock climbing and sea kayaking.
The feeling of mastery
One of the findings was that the participants were well challenged by the various activities of the wilderness program, but that it was both perceived as manageable and led to a sense of mastery. Few of the participants were used to camping or living out in nature, so their feeling of mastery came from everything from pitching a tent to capsizing with a kayak.
The young people also expressed that the expedition's activities and the exercises in attentive presence created opportunities to build unity and find support among each other.
The evaluation done afterwards showed that the participants felt safe during the program and that the diversity in the group contributed positively to the nature experience.
The next steps in our research will be to investigate more closely the perceived effects of the Wilderness Program for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors (WAYA) on the health and well-being of young cancer survivors and to evaluate the possibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial on the program among this target group.
Originally published in Norwegian at Forskersonen.no (eksternal link).
