Hispanic Adapted and Culturally Relevant Exercising Together (HACER)

A Pilot Feasibility Study of a Culturally Adapted Partnered Strength Training Intervention for Hispanic Cancer Survivors and Their Caregivers

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility and effects of an adapted Exercising Together, a partnered resistance training program, on the physical and mental health of prostate cancer survivors and their informal caregiver. The Exercising Together program is designed to promote teamwork during supervised group exercise classes delivered remotely through videoconferencing software. The intervention period will be 3-months with a 3-month follow-up.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Neoplasms; Exercise; Caregiver Burden; Prostate Cancer; Cancer Survivors
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercising together

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 58
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85719
      • University of Arizona Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Phase 1:

Inclusion Criteria (Survivor only):

1. Self-identifies as Hispanic
2. Histologically confirmed prostate cancer diagnosis (self-report)
3. Completed primary treatment at least 6 weeks prior at time of enrollment
4. Has an identified caregiver in any relationship role (e.g., spouse, sibling, parent, friend) who can participate with them.

Inclusion Criteria (Caregivers):

1. Identifies as an individual (e.g., family member or friend) who provides unpaid care or support to a participating prostate cancer survivor.

Inclusion Criteria (Survivors and Caregivers):

1. ≥18 years of age
2. Understands (ability to read and speak) English or Spanish and able to provide informed consent
3. Meets the American College of Sports Medicine pre-participation screening criteria for exercise
4. Ability to ambulate (with or without assistive devices)
5. Willing to attend study group exercise classes online, complete remote assessments, and answer online surveys
6. Has access to a mobile device with camera and internet.
7. Able to participate in classes at same time as other participating member.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Cognitive difficulties that preclude answering the survey questions, participating in the exercise classes or performance tests, or providing informed consent as determined by the professional opinion of the Principal Investigator
2. A medical condition, movement or neurological disorder, or medication use that contraindicates participation in moderate intensity exercise or poses a significant safety concern/risk for the well-being of the participant (e.g., declared pregnancy, poorly controlled diabetes, recent cardiac event, neuromuscular disease, untreated orthostatic hypertension, recent surgery, acute hernia, acute rheumatoid arthritis, severe memory disorders, severe balance disorder, severe hearing or vision impairment)
3. Knowingly unable to attend >75% of the intervention classes due to conflict with the designated time of day, days of the week, and/or location for the exercise class which they initially enrolled
4. Incapable of providing informed consent, answering survey questions, participating in the intervention, and following directions during performance testing when English or Spanish language is used
5. Unable to be in the same location with participating member during remote exercise classes and performance testing and/or insufficient internet connectivity to support required videoconferencing software

Phase 2:

Inclusion Criteria (Survivor only):

1. Histologically confirmed cancer diagnosis (self-report)
2. Completed primary treatment at least 6 weeks prior at time of enrollment
3. Has an identified caregiver in any relationship role (e.g., spouse, sibling, parent, friend) who can participate with them.

Inclusion Criteria for Caregivers remains the same as Phase 1 Exclusion Criteria remain the same as Phase 1

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Exercising Together; Dyads perform partnered exercise over 1 hour, 3 days per week in a supervised, group setting remotely for 3 months.

Behavioral: Exercising together; The Exercising Together program is a partnered functional strength training program that encourages participating dyads to interact with one another, verbally and physically, during exercise sessions. In Exercising Together, the survivor and their caregiver will build skills to work as a team. We will incorporate skills that promote and reinforce communication, motivation, and support and use this to guide training of survivor-caregiver dyads to maximize their teamwork during each exercise session. Group sessions are delivered remotely through videoconferencing software and are supervised by two trained exercise instructors. Intervention and assessment is available in English or Spanish.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Implementation Success - composite measure of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility.	Implementation success is a composite measure that will be measured by a single questionnaire that will determine the extent to which the intervention is considered acceptable, appropriate, and feasible. The single questionnaire will consist of 3 measures that will be summed into one final score, The Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM), Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM), and Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM). Responses from AIM, IAM, and FIM are summary scored with a possible range of 12-60; higher scores indicate greater acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility.	3 months
Acceptability measured by adherence to intervention	Acceptability will be measured by adherence to the intervention calculated as the total number of classes attended divided by the total possible schedule the patient could attend using descriptive statistics.	3 months
Appropriateness measured by retention rate	Will be determined as the retention rate- calculated as the number of dyads completing the study versus consented using descriptive statistics.	3 months
Feasibility measured by enrollment rate	Will be determined as the enrollment rate- the number of dyads enrolled out of those approached and eligible using descriptive statistics.	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical activity	Moderate to vigourous physical activity and sedentary time estimated using Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA)	Physical activity will be measured over a 6 month period. It will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QOL) for the survivor	Measured by the 39 item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Prostate (FACT-P), which includes subscales on physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being and an additional subscale specific to prostate cancer. Response items are five-point Likert scales, where higher scores indicate higher HR-QOL.physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being. FACT-G is 27 items while FACT-P is 39 items. FACT-P includes an additional subscale specific to prostate cancer. Response items are five-point likert scales, where higher scores indicate higher HR-QOL.	HR-QOL will be measured over a 6 month period. It will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.
Relationship Health	Measured by the Relationship Quality Index (RQI), a six-item assessment of communication and satisfaction on a five-point likert scale.	Relationship Health will be measured over a 6 month period. It will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.
Objective Physical Function	Measured by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) to determine ability to perform tasks of daily living independently. The SPPB includes 3 timed tests: 5 repeated chair stands, standing balance, and gait speed over 4 meters. The possible range of scores is 0-12.	Objective Physical Function will be measured over a 6 month period. It will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QOL) for the caregiver	Measured by the 27 item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G), which includes subscales on physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being. Response items are five-point Likert scales, where higher scores indicate higher HR-QOL.	HR-QOL will be measured over a 6 month period. It will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Arizona
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Meghan B Skiba, PhD, MS, MPH, RDN, University of Arizona College of Nursing Biobehavioral Health Science Division

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 11, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 29, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 30, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: caregivers; Pilot study; Strength training; Cancer survivorship; Hispanic Men's Health
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; Genital Neoplasms, Male; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Genital Diseases, Male; Prostatic Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Behavior; Caregiver Burden; Neoplasms; Prostatic Neoplasms; Motor Activity
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00003138

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No