Cooking Class Intervention Project for Men With Prostate Cancer and Their Partners

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly-diagnosed invasive cancer in Canada, with 24,000 new cases predicted for 2015. The large majority of men (96%) will survive five or more years post-diagnosis. However, many PCa survivors live with side effects of the disease and treatment and may develop chronic conditions due to aging and/or cancer therapy. The PCa-related side effects can also impact men's interpersonal relationships. Effective interventions to promote health and well-being for PCa survivors are urgently needed.

Evidence shows that nutrition can improve outcomes for PCa survivors; however, dietary interventions for prostate cancer patients are limited. Furthermore, all PCa-related interventions reported thus far are limited in one important way: they focus only on the patient/survivor. Yet, the impact of prostate cancer extends to the spouse as well. When it comes to lifestyle interventions, responsibility for health behaviours and food preparation typically falls on the wife, particularly in today's cohort of PCa patients. As such, engaging the partner is crucial to ensure success for the survivor, and provide benefits for the wife as well.

Therefore, this is a feasibility study that tests the impact of an innovative intervention to promote healthy nutrition and weight control for PCa survivors and their partners.

The objectives are to assess the feasibility of the intervention, specifically:

• Accrual, retention and adherence, and participant satisfaction
• Candidate measures for primary outcomes in future studies

The study draws on Interdependence Theory and features of successful cooking class intervention research in other populations. Specifically, it uses hands-on cooking experience, combined with increased cooking skills and nutrition knowledge to build skills and self-efficacy; to be culturally appropriate and use simple affordable ingredients; and to involve the spouses.

The dietary intervention will be offered to a total of 24 couples (48 individuals). The intervention includes 6 cooking and nutrition-related classes, that are held weekly in a university classroom kitchen with interactive demo and cooking components. Classes focus on learning through preparing theme-based recipes, with themes organized around prostate health.

Feasibility outcomes are assessed throughout. Questionnaire-based outcomes are assessed pre- and post-intervention, anthropometric outcomes at first and last intervention session.

The main intent is to evaluate how well the classes work and identify ways to make them more successful. At the end of the study, the investigators will know if this approach shows merit to be tested further through a randomized controlled trial.