LAUSR

BACKGROUND The high incidence of and death by breast cancer show that breast cancer requires serious treatment. Studies revealed that the physical activity of survivors of breast cancer significantly reduced after a diagnosis of breast cancer. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the effect of supportive-educative nursing intervention (SENI) on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of survivors of breast cancer towards the intensity of physical activity. METHODS The study population included patients with breast cancer living in a palliative shelter of a referral hospital. Data were obtained from 61 respondents (intervention group, n = 30; control group, n = 31). The study used a pre-test and post-test design with a control group (quasi-experiment with control). RESULTS SENI showed a significant effect on the knowledge (p = 0.000) and attitude (p = 0.000) of the participants towards physical activity. SENI did not demonstrate a significant effect on increasing the intensity of physical activity (p = 0.413). CONCLUSIONS Descriptively, the intensity of physical activity showed a tendency to increase in the intervention group, but no significant effect was noted. Palliative shelters in community can hold programmes that may increase the physical activity of survivors.