Cancer Institute Researcher Studying Whether Physical Activity Can Help Breast Cancer Survivors Remain in Workforce
| Jaimi “Mimi” Allen, Ph.D., is examining the link between physical activity and employment for Arkansas women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Allen, an assistant professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, is leading the project, “Explaining the Potential Role of Physical Activity in Employment Disparities After Breast Cancer.”
The research focuses on how cognitive difficulties, fatigue, access to exercise opportunities and other unique experiences of rural cancer survivors factor into employment experiences.
The project launched in late 2024 and continues through April 2029. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health is providing slightly over $632,000 for the study.
“Breast cancer survivors are at high risk for unemployment, especially populations with an additional layer of disadvantage, leading to financial toxicity and poor health outcomes,” said Allen, who is also a member of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences research program. “Despite the numerous benefits of employment for cancer survivors and the desire for most cancer survivors to keep working, cancer-related fatigue and cognitive impairment are common barriers to working.”
“We’re trying to see the full picture and look at the true experiences of employment and physical activity for breast cancer survivors,” she said. “Oftentimes, we just look at behaviors and fail to understand the why and how behind the situation. This study will help to explain some of those developments.”
The first half of the project includes collecting information through surveys. During phase two, Allen will conduct interviews. Her research team — which collaborates with a breast cancer cohort from the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockerfeller Cancer Institute — will learn and study what the survivors experienced.
The team will survey 200 breast cancer survivors, including a mix of unemployed and employed survivors as well as those who live in rural areas, who have a low income and have low education levels. Ultimately, Allen’s team will analyze and release the survey data.
“We’re surveying survivors throughout the state to get as well-rounded of a sample as possible based on Arkansas’ population,” she said. “We’re also going to ask if we possibly neglected an area and get feedback from the breast cancer survivors to help us with the next phase, which is the intervention portion.”
Allen noted that being physically active often makes a positive impact in the lives of breast cancer survivors. However, inaccessibility to exercise opportunities often experienced by survivors living in the rural south, can adversely impact their health and employment.
“Fatigue and cognitive difficulties were two of the main barriers to breast cancer survivors being healthy enough to remain in the workforce. Physical activity has been shown to help combat these barriers,” Allen said. “Ultimately, we want to enhance the quality of life for all Arkansans who have been diagnosed with cancer. This is one step towards achieving that goal.”