What We Do


As part of the ACS Population Science department, the Behavioral Interventions team studies the psychological, social, physical, and environmental factors that affect people’s adoption of healthy habits, such as quitting smoking, engaging in regular physical activity, and eating a healthy diet.

We use our research to develop effective interventions and programs to help prevent the development or return of cancer.

Key Terms
  • Abstinence: The practice of choosing not to do a certain behavior or give into a desire or addiction, such as using tobacco or alcohol.
  • Intervention: A program or set of activities designed to help people or populations change a particular behavior (like sitting too much or forgetting to put on sunscreen) that increases their risk for a particular disease.
  • Sedentary: Sitting, reclining, or lying down while awake and expending very little energy. 

Our Behavioral Intervention Programs

We study how to help people change behaviors—such as quitting smoking or being more active—before and after a cancer diagnosis. 

Programs to Help People Quit Smoking

We’re using modern technologies, such as tailored emails, to identify effective ways to help people quit smoking. 

Our research has shown that more people who smoke quit smoking when they receive multiple tailored, or personalized, email messages than people who smoke who receive only a few, or only received general, unpersonalized emails.

The email messages aim to provide motivation, information, and support for quitting by being tailored to a person’s triggers for smoking, reasons for wanting to quit, smoking-cessation medication preferences, and more.

Our tailored-email smoking-cessation program will be available in 2021 through the ACS website, cancer.org.

We’re also exploring the use of a smartphone app to help newly diagnosed cancer patients quit smoking.

 

Web-Based Programs to Help Cancer Survivors Increase Physical Activity

Physical activity is a safe and effective way for cancer survivors to improve their mental and physical health, yet many survivors do not get enough. 

To explore ways to help survivors become more active, we developed an online physical activity intervention designed specifically for cancer survivors, called HEALED (Health and Energy through Active Living Every Day) After Cancer. The intervention was a pilot tested in 85 CPS-3 cancer survivors. 

By the end of the HEALED After Cancer intervention, the cancer survivors who participated said they:

  • Liked the HEALED website and found it easy to use.
  • Learned that physical activity is safe for them.
  • Felt they became stronger and had better balance.

Because of pilot study’s success, we will be expanding the online HEALED After Cancer intervention to a wider group of cancer survivors.