Active Living After Cancer: Implementation Within Be Well Acres Homes

May 28, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
The goal of this research study is to learn more about a physical activity program adapted for cancer survivors.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Primary Objectives:

Evaluate the effectiveness of ALAC adapted for delivery in Acres Homes, using a randomized wait- list-control group design. The primary outcome will be physical functioning as measured by the 30- second sit-to-stand test at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes will include physical functioning measured by the six-minute walk, objective and self-reported physical activity, social connectedness, and quality of life. The investigators will also investigate whether program effects are maintained at 6 months. Hypothesis: Cancer survivors in the adapted ALAC program will increase their physical activity and improve their physical functioning from baseline to the end-of-intervention assessment, compared to a wait-list-control group.

Compare the reach of the ALAC program in Acres Homes to ALAC in other persistent poverty neighborhoods in Houston. Hypothesis: The Acres Homes adaptation of ALAC will have a greater reach (percent of cancer survivors enrolling in ALAC in a specific neighborhood) than in other persistent poverty neighborhoods in Houston.

Explore the moderating effects of social and environmental variables on program effectiveness. Hypothesis 3A:Participants' financial distress, experiences of discrimination, health literacy, and social connectedness will influence the effect of the ALAC intervention on participants' physical activity, physical functioning, and program engagement. Hypothesis 3B: Neighborhood characteristics, like walkability, crime rate, air quality, access to green space, and neighborhood social vulnerability, will be related to the effectiveness of the ALAC program in terms of enrollment and health outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

164

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77090
        • Recruiting
        • The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Karen Basen-Engquist, BA,MPH,PHD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Past diagnosis of invasive cancer, or a caregiver (family or friend) of a participating survivor.
  2. No longer receiving treatment for cancer (except hormone therapy or long-term maintenance chemotherapy).
  3. Over the age of 18.
  4. Screen negative for contraindicating health problems on the adapted Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q),79 or screened positive but have approval from a health care provider to participate.
  5. Lives in the Acres Homes neighborhood of Houston, Texas or has a home zip code of 77088 or 77091.
  6. Able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Women who are pregnant (as indicated by self-report).
  2. Has participated in the ALAC program within the past year and attended more than 2 group sessions.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention
Receives the ALAC intervention following the baseline assessment
Behavioral: Physical Activity/Physical Functioning
The physical activity portion of the program sessions focuses on teaching cognitive and behavioral skills to increase physical activity, including goalsetting, self-monitoring, overcoming barriers to physical activity, enlisting social support, and how to handle "high risk" situations that may result in relapses to a sedentary lifestyle. The health educator teaches participants about various forms of moderate intensity activity and has them practice brief bouts of activity of various types to ensure that they are doing the activities safely and correctly. Each week participants receive a handout to provide information about the behavioral skill taught that week. The program also provides activity trackers (week 1) and resistance bands (week 5). The pedometer assists participants in self-monitoring their activity, and the resistance bands provide a form of home-based exercise that participants can do even with limited space.
Behavioral: Quality of Life
The survivorship portion of the program features a guided discussion on a different topic each session. The goals of the discussion are to present information about the topic, answer participants' questions about the topic, encourage participants to share solutions and ideas relevant to the topic with each other, and provide information on community resources participants can access if they require additional help. The health educator makes a brief presentation about the topic, answers questions, and then asks a series of 2-3 open-ended questions to facilitate discussion about the topic. At the end of the session, the health educator navigates participants who need additional information or service related to the topic to resources in the community.
Active Comparator: Waitlist Control
Receives the ALAC intervention following the 3-month assessment
Behavioral: Physical Activity/Physical Functioning
The physical activity portion of the program sessions focuses on teaching cognitive and behavioral skills to increase physical activity, including goalsetting, self-monitoring, overcoming barriers to physical activity, enlisting social support, and how to handle "high risk" situations that may result in relapses to a sedentary lifestyle. The health educator teaches participants about various forms of moderate intensity activity and has them practice brief bouts of activity of various types to ensure that they are doing the activities safely and correctly. Each week participants receive a handout to provide information about the behavioral skill taught that week. The program also provides activity trackers (week 1) and resistance bands (week 5). The pedometer assists participants in self-monitoring their activity, and the resistance bands provide a form of home-based exercise that participants can do even with limited space.
Behavioral: Quality of Life
The survivorship portion of the program features a guided discussion on a different topic each session. The goals of the discussion are to present information about the topic, answer participants' questions about the topic, encourage participants to share solutions and ideas relevant to the topic with each other, and provide information on community resources participants can access if they require additional help. The health educator makes a brief presentation about the topic, answers questions, and then asks a series of 2-3 open-ended questions to facilitate discussion about the topic. At the end of the session, the health educator navigates participants who need additional information or service related to the topic to resources in the community.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Re-AIM Framework
Time Frame: Through study completion; an average of 1 year.
1. Physical functioning change from baseline to 12 weeks, as measured by the 30-second sit-to-stand test
Through study completion; an average of 1 year.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Karen Basen-Engquist, BA,MPH,PHD, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 3, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 14, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 2, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 28, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023-0231
  • NCI-2025-07494 (Other Identifier: Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP))

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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