by ACTION Centre, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
As someone impacted by cancer, you know things researchers don’t.
You know what it felt like to sit with a diagnosis, or to sit with a loved one with a diagnosis. You know what helped, and you know what didn’t. Whether a walk outside cleared your head when nothing else could. Whether the person caring for you needed support just as much as you did.
That lived knowledge matters. And now, researchers at the University of Calgary want to hear it.
The Nature-Connected Oncology Research Exploration, Nature-CORE, is a national study inviting people affected by cancer to share their perspectives on nature-based therapies and their potential role in cancer care. Led by principal investigator Dr. Linda Carlson, the Nature-Connected Oncology Research Exploration, Nature-CORE, is a national study inviting people affected by cancer to share their perspectives on nature-based therapies and their potential role in cancer care. Through an online survey, your experiences could directly shape the programs developed for future patients and caregivers across Canada
Through an online survey, your experiences could directly shape the programs developed for future patients and caregivers across Canada.
The idea behind the research is straightforward. A growing body of evidence suggests that time spent in natural environments such as parks, gardens, or green spaces may help reduce stress, lift mood, and support overall well-being. Researchers are also exploring possible links between increased nature exposure and improved gut health, which strengthens the immune system. For people navigating cancer, those potential benefits could be game changers.
But researchers can only go so far without hearing from the people who’ve actually lived it.
The Nature-CORE survey is open to cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, healthcare providers, and policymakers – anyone touched by cancer or healthcare providers involved in cancer care. It asks about the nature-based approaches people may already be using, what barriers make them hard to access, and what kinds of programs would be most useful and realistic.
This is not about replacing medical treatment. It’s about exposure to nature as complementary therapy, strengthening recovery from cancer and its effects.
Every voice adds something that data alone can’t capture. Whether you spent time outside during treatment and felt the difference, or cared for someone who did, your perspective belongs in this research. Likewise, the perspectives of those who didn’t, or couldn’t, spend time in nature are equally valuable.
Canadians 18 and older are welcome to participate in our online survey.
What you’ve been through has value beyond your own story. Share it with us and help build something better for the people who come after you.
Please access our survey here: https://www.action-centre.ca/ncorestudy.
