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Lance Armstrong Grant Awarded to Yale University School of Nursing Professor to Support Cancer Survivorship Program
It is reported that more than one-third of African American women in Connecticut do not engage in physical activity or consume more than five fruits and vegetables a day. 
75% of these women are overweight. Also, African American women in Connecticut have higher rates of breast cancer mortality compared to Caucasian women. M. Tish Knobf, PhD, RN, FAAN, AOCN, American Cancer Society Professor at Yale University School of Nursing and a member of Yale Cancer Center, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) to address these disparities. The grant will support an interventional program, Building a Foundation for Health for Women of Color.
Building a Foundation for Health for Women of Color is a culturally based, six-week program, designed to educate, engage, and empower survivors to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors, which have the potential to moderate their risk for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The program will be based on the concepts of sisterhood and social support.
“This Lance Armstrong Foundation grant provides the support to enhance our efforts to reduce cancer disparities and improve quality of life among minority populations. The focus is really on how to develop a plan for daily physical activity and healthy eating choices,” Dr. Knobf said. The grant will serve minority cancer survivors in the New Haven through Yale Cancer Center and in the Bridgeport area through a community partnership with St. Vincent's Hospital.
The LAF awarded grants in five areas: practical issues of cancer survivorship; cancer pain, palliative, and end-of-life care; physical activity and nutrition; survivorship education; and emotional support for people living with cancer. During this past grant cycle the LAF was interested in programs that would help people recover from their cancer, and they were particularly interested in programs that would help minority populations or underserved populations. Dr. Knobf commented, “We have been working for about 3 to 4 years with a group of women of color in the New Haven area to identify their unique needs and determine what we could be doing as providers to help minority populations manage the effects of cancer. This effort was the groundwork for the Lance Armstrong grant, to develop a program that would look at physical activity and healthy eating choices in a population of women of color who were cancer survivors.”
During the six-week program, the women will receive information about cancer survivorship, physical activity, and nutrition. A nutritionist will speak to them about how to make healthy eating choices and each woman will receive an ethnic cookbook. An exercise physiologist will work with the women on overcoming barriers to routine physical activity, provide instruction, and identify community resources. The program will begin later this month. To learn more about the program, please contact Dr. Tish Knobf at (203) 737-2357.