Our Outcomes

Quick Links: Outcomes Overview – What Information We Collect – What We Have Found

One of our key values at SeaChange Retreats is to ensure that we are delivering safe and effective interventions for adults impacted by cancer. This is why research plays an important role in our retreats.

Outcomes Overview

Participants who attend our Recovering After Cancer retreats show:

Statistically significant improvements in their mental wellbeing.

Statistically significant Improvements across physical, emotional and functional wellbeing.

Increases in levels of physical activity at a moderate to strenuous level.

The feedback we received has been outstanding, with participants sharing what they love about the retreats and ideas for further development.

“This was quite simply a life changing experience for me. After the worst year of my life to be able to share experiences with others who just get it was amazing. I’m leaving with a new, refreshed mind and a love of surfing! I’ve left the fear of my future behind and am looking forward to taking what I’ve learnt and putting it into practice. Was a completely healing experience.”

You can read more participants feedback here, or on our testimonials page.

What information we collect

Questionnaires

Before attending our retreats, at one-month post-attending and at six-months post-attending, all participants are asked to complete a series of questionnaires that explore their wellbeing, physical health, and levels of exercise.

Impact of Cancer

Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS)

Questions explore both the functioning and feeling aspects of wellbeing, for example:

a person’s sense of purposeproblem-solving abilities
decisivenessinterest in new things
energy levelsclarity of thinking
feelings of confidencecloseness
optimismcalm and relaxation
The scale has been used nationally and internationally and is well-recognised as a reliable measure of change. Higher scores are reflective of better mental wellbeing. Out of a total possible score of 70, scores of 41-44 are indicative of possible / mild depression, and scores below 41 are indicative of probable depression. In contrast, scores above 60 indicate high wellbeing(1). You can find out more about the WEMWBS questionnaire here.

Reference: 1. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/research/platform/wemwbs/using/howto/

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G7)

Developed with oncology patients, this 7-item questionnaire is designed to explore the top-rated symptoms and concerns of patients undergoing cancer treatment. It is used widely in clinical practice and research, and focuses on measuring physical wellbeing (e.g. pain, nausea), emotional wellbeing (e.g. worry, enjoyment) and functional wellbeing (e.g. sleep, energy).

The total possible score is 28. Scores below 13 have been found to indicate low health-related quality of life(2).

You can find out more about the FACT-G7 here. 

Reference: 2. Pearman T, Yanez B, Peipert J, Wortman K, Beaumont J, Cella D. Ambulatory cancer and US general population reference values and cutoff scores for the functional assessment of cancer therapy. Cancer. 2014 Sep 15;120(18):2902-9. doi: 10.1002/cncr.28758. Epub 2014 May 22. PMID: 24853866.

Why Exercise?

Exercise Vital Signs (EVS)

The Exercise Vital Signs is a brief but reliable measure used to calculate an individual’s levels of physical activity. The measure has been used as part of the ‘exercise is medicine’ effort to increase physical activity and reduce mortality risks. The questionnaire asks participants how many days per week they spend exercising at a moderate to strenuous level, and on average, how many minutes they spend exercising at that level each time. An ‘Exercise Vital Sign score’ is then calculated, with higher scores reflecting greater physical activity levels.

Feedback

We ask all of our participants to give us their feedback at the end of each retreat, and when we gather follow-up questionnaire data. We ask them to tell us what they liked and enjoyed about the retreat, and we ask what they would change, add, alter or remove too. This is really vital information for us and has helped us to shape our offer.

What we have found

Questionnaire data

With the support of Kayley Birch-Hurst (PhD Researcher and Associate Lecturer at the University of West of England) and Kimberley Mitchell (Psychology Intern & Assistant Psychologist, University of West England), we have completed a statistical analysis of our Recovering After Cancer retreats data.

Between September 2020 and October 2021, 36 participants attended a Recovering After Cancer SeaChange Retreat. They each completed the questionnaires outlined above before attending the retreat, and then again one month after attending. We found:

Mental Wellbeing

Participant’s scores on the The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) questionnaires were higher after attending the retreat than before they joined us, reflecting improvements in mental wellbeing.

Before attending, the average score on the questionnaire was 46 out of 70. After attending this increased to 53.7 out of 70.

Statistical analysis (a paired-samples t-test) showed that this improvement was statistically significant. Statistical significance is important as it allows us to have confidence that these improvements were due to participants attending the retreat, rather than by chance. This is really exciting news for us and our participants!

For us research geeks… On average, WEMWBS scores were higher after the retreat (M = 53.7, SD = 8.0) than before the attending (M = 46.0 SD = 7.7). A paired-samples t-test revealed that this improvement was statistically significant (t(31) = 5.10, p <0.001, d = 0.90).

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy

Participant’s scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-G7) questionnaires were also higher after attending the retreat than before they joined us. This indicates improvements across physical, emotional and functional wellbeing.

Before attending, the average score on the questionnaire was 18 out of a possible 28. After attending, the average score increased to 21.
Again, statistical analysis (a paired-samples t-test) showed that this improvement was statistically significant. This is really important as it is another hit of confidence that attending our retreats leads to real change for participants.

For us research geeks… On average, FACT-G7 scores were significantly higher after attending the retreat (M = 21.0, SD = 3.7) compared to before attending (M = 18.0, SD = 4.0). A paired-samples t-test revealed that this improvement was statistically significant t(31) = 4.59, p <0.001, d = 0.81.

Exercise Vital Signs (EVS)

Participants Exercise Vital Signs scores were also higher after attending the retreat than before they joined us. This increase in activity level however was not statistically significant when measured using a paired samples t-test.

For us research geeks… On average, EVS scores were higher after attending the retreat (M = 229.0, SD = 206.7) than before attending (M = 226.8, SD = 156.5); however, this increase in physical activity was not statistically significant, t(30) = 0.06, p = 0.475, d = 0.01.

surfing

Feedback

Below is a selection of some of the feedback we have had from our retreats. We really welcome this as it enables us to adapt our retreats and make sure that we are meeting the needs of those who join us. It has already led to several changes across the last 18 months which have been really positively received by participants.

  • The relaxed atmosphere from the start; the enthusiasm from you guys leading it; and being able to express my thoughts and feelings about my cancer and listen to others’ experiences. 
  • Enthusiasm of leaders; first lesson = first stand up surfing!! Breathing and mindfulness techniques; lunch; sharing experiences and fears.
  • The enthusiasm of the providers; it was well-structured and well-organised, but relaxed and informal; the support and help from the volunteers.
  • Setting – sunshine, sea, venues, food; the safety of the retreat – emotional, physical, psychological; smiles, laughter, good thoughts; relaxed – but intense; tired – physically and emotionally but in a good way; meeting others – humbling how individuals have chosen to capture the aftermath; providing tools to guide and provide hope; the different roles – psychologist, oncologist, surf teachers, yoga teacher.
  • I loved the weekend, especially the surf and listening and learning from everyone’s truly inspiring and individual stories. The food and venues were ace. I got lots from the time and feel privileged to have been able to join. 
  • The warmth, enthusiasm and support of the staff. Surfing lessons were phenomenal, the yoga was great. The workshops were very fluid and semi-structured allowing people to talk freely with the anchoring of facilitation. The curiosity of Helen in facilitating the workshop was very skillful and respectful as well as insightful. It was a lovely weekend and I’ll definitely come back. 
  • It was all so amazing! I wasn’t sure what to expect but it exceeded any expectations I had. You guys are so incredible! Being with a group of people who have had similar experiences and being able to share in a safe space. Such a balance of experiences over the weekend. 
  • Surfing was 100% the highlight for me. Helen instructed us well and the support in the water gave me the confidence to go for it!
  • I honestly enjoyed every minute. The surfing was the best thing. I loved the yoga and the gong bath equally. The timings were really good – not too tiring, but challenging. Cafe / restaurant choices were brilliant. I really valued the opportunity to speak openly and honestly with the other participants.
  • Surfing – an amazing activity, well explained re. safety, lots of support in the water; food – amazing lunches and dinner; Nutrition workshop – really good; Health Creation workshop – good.
  • It would be great to have a partner / family retreat for them to be able to talk about their experiences and fears.
  • Longer retreats – starting on the Friday.
  • Other activities on the beach or overlooking the sea; Qi Gong; evening meals on the beach.
  • Perhaps expand your list of recommended B&Bs and hotel info, or more of a group stay – it would have been good to interact more post-workshops and dinner.
  • Instead of a generic physio workshop, I felt maybe 20 minutes 1:1 time would have been more helpful, maybe even with a handson treatment option. I felt quite tired after surfing and lunch and therefore found it hard to concentrate for 1.5 hours.
  • More information beforehand on what to bring – I wasn’t sure if we’d be together all day or if we’d have time in between. I would have loved yoga both days but understand time is an issue!
  • Breathwork sessions; ecstatic dance; life coaching; managing energy; journaling workshop; movement / somatic (trauma release) workshops. Possibly other options at breakfast for food, like fruit / yoghurts. Would have been helpful to have more information about facts from the nutrition workshop on the slides, and more time to discuss health creation results in pairs.
  • Maybe a life-coaching workshop, especially for post-treatment.
  • Fistral beach is beautiful, but quite a walk; a longer weekend but with the same amount of activities so it is not quite as tiring.
  • My only wish would have been slightly more time wild swimming because I just adored the feeling and freedom of the water.
  • Seachange really made such a huge positive difference to me. Meeting others who have had cancer (during covid it was so isolating), hearing that they have also been through/had similar thoughts and knowing you are not alone with them and it also gave me the confidence to get back into activities that I was a bit scared about doing again/feeling apprehensive about and laugh for the first time in a long time. Thank you.
  • The retreat really helped me change my mindset and almost reset to how I was a couple of years ago. I had got to a point where I was re-living the health anxieties of 4 years earlier and although I wasn’t ‘fine’ as soon as I returned from the retreat, it was definitely an important part of my re-healing journey. This is the first time all year that I am mostly anxiety free and have started my exercise and healthy living regime again. Thank you for being part of this change for me!
  • I have to say I am still looking back on the weekend and what we all did with such a high. I had such a great weekend. I loved the fact that the people on the weekend were not all breast cancer patients. It was so great to get other people’s opinions on their life. And I loved that it was a mixed group. Sometime it’s hard with the BC community that it’s very female and almost like a competition I loved being able to talk to other people with the same diagnosis but different opinions. Not gonna lie, Ii found the surfing stressful – but that was trying not to hit people 😉 but the wild swimming was amazing. And the dancing was such a surprise too. I enjoyed that so much. The yoga was perfect for after the surfing too.

We also gather testimonials from everyone who attends a retreat, more of which can be found here. Together they help to shape our retreats and inspire us to offer the best that we can. Here are a few of our favourites:

  • This has honestly been one of the most special weekends ever. To have time and space to reconnect with myself and to examine the strange, difficult circumstances under which I currently live my life was incredible and valuable. I am moved and thankful for the kindness of the amazing people at SeaChange
  • Six months ago, in the darkness of chemotherapy, I told my husband I didn’t think I would ever feel joy again in my life. But I have felt so much pure, undilated fun and happiness, enthusiasm and joy over the course of this weekend and I am leaving feeling renewed and revived in so many ways, I simply can’t thank the team enough.
  • Thank you so much for the most peaceful, joyous, cathartic weekend I think I’ve ever experienced. Being able to connect to others my age and/or in the same position as me has been invaluable. I now know how I want to progress during the next stage of my recovery.
  • I felt so cared for, and that my opinions mattered. I was able to relax and recalibrate after a very long and traumatic twelve months of treatment. A weekend I will hold dear in my memory banks forever. Thank you for this opportunity to heal and find balance.

Thank you for sharing!

We are so incredibly grateful to all the participants that have joined us and shared their experiences with us – you continue to boost our energy and passion for what we are delivering, knowing that it makes a difference to each of you in your own journeys. Thank you for taking the time – we truly appreciate it.

If you have joined a retreat and would like to share further feedback about your experiences you can drop us a line here – we look forward to hearing from you!