Overview

The Understanding the Nutritional Challenges of People Who Have Experienced Cancer project identifies the role food security plays in cancer survivorship and how cancer survivors prioritize their nutrition and food needs. 

The project improves the lives of cancer survivors by reducing food insecurity and better addressing survivors’ nutritional needs. Researchers are investigating how cancer survivors prioritize food and nutrition expenses, their household dynamics, nutrition and diet, financial management skills, and well-being and happiness.

This groundbreaking research also informs a larger national study addressing the effectiveness of various interventions that are aimed at helping cancer survivors, the interventions’ effectiveness, and how they can be improved.

This project is a joint research study by the Carle Cancer Center and the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Research Team

  • Anna Arthur, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor, Dietetics and Nutrition, University of Kansas Medical Center
  • Craig Gunderson, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Professor, Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, Baylor University
  • Brenda Koester, MS, Co-Investigator, Associate Director, Center for Social & Behavioral Science

Contact:
Dr. Anna Arthur
aarthur4@kumc.edu

Funding

This project is funded through the Christopher Family Foundation Food and Family Program.