By Laura Eggertson

A new documentary about a unique program two Dalhousie researchers created to improve the mental health, wellness, and quality of life of people with cancer premiered May 4 at the Joseph Strug Concert Hall.

Dr. Rob Rutledge, a radiation oncologist and Associate Professor at Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Gabriela Ilie, a psychologist, commissioned the 54-minute film, entitled Empower. Ilie is also the Endowed Soillse Scientist in Prostate Cancer Quality of Life Research.

The moving film, directed by John Drew McQuinn and produced by McQuinn and Edward Boyce, highlights the benefits of the two researchers’ Patient Empowerment Programs, beginning with the Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program, or PC-PEP.

The six-month program, which people participate in online from their homes, involves daily videos and emails from Ilie and Rutledge. The researchers, who are married, explore topics ranging from how to cook healthy, plant-based meals, to daily strength-training regimens, walking, explorations of relationships and intimacy, yoga, improved sleep habits, and guided meditations. The program also pairs participants with buddies and fosters connections to community activities.

The documentary, which is both motivational and inspirational in tone, features the experiences of program participants Melanie Smith and John Underhill. Both attest to the program’s importance in helping them cope with the devastating mental and physical effects of cancer and its treatment.

Sense of community

“The most valuable thing I got out of CancerPep: A sense of community,” says Smith, who attended the premiere.

Underhill, who died a month after completing his interview for the documentary, also spoke of the importance of connecting with his PEP partner weekly, a practise he maintained long after he finished the program.

“It was his lifeline,” Sandra Williams, Underhill’s widow, told the audience at the premiere. “The impression I would like to leave, on behalf of my husband, is there’s always hope.”

During the premiere, Ilie thanked philanthropists Frank and Debbi Sobey, as well as other donors, for their critical support.

“Your generosity and spiritual presence planted the seed for this work,” Ilie told the Sobeys. “Without you, none of this work would even exist.”

She also thanked patients - “the reason we do this” – as well as other donors.

“This is a celebration to philanthropy,” Ilie said. “A lot of the work could not have happened without philanthropy.”

Empower includes interviews with Ilie and Rutledge about the reasons they embarked on the research that resulted in the PC-PEP program, as well as sister programs such as PictouCountyPEP, for all forms of chronic disease. Rutledge and Ilie have also launched CancerPep.com, a commercial version of the program they developed through their private company, SpiritPep Inc., after their research trials had closed.

Ilie and Rutledge are also applying for funding and seeking philanthropic support to run a Phase 3 randomly controlled trial for people with breast cancer.

High distress

Their work began with Ilie’s research surveying 500 men with prostate cancer, which revealed that the men’s rates of depression and anxiety were twice that of men without prostate cancer – and no one was addressing those elevated rates.

Ilie and Rutledge then did further research after developing their program.

After enrolling 128 men scheduled for prostate cancer surgery or radiotherapy in a trial that assigned half of them to standard of care, and half to standard of care plus the Patient Empowerment Program, the study results encouraged Rutledge and Ilie.

Those in the PEP program had lower levels of mental distress, according to the paper aon the trial, published in European Urology.

They also had better urinary control, were fitter, and had lost, on average, 3.5 kilograms of weight, Rutledge told the film premiere. They also maintained their relationship satisfaction, reported an improved sense of self-advocacy and made fewer visits to their family doctor or the emergency department, he said.

What the PEP program demonstrates, Ilie said, is that “you don’t just have to wait at home in despair and loneliness.”

Former CBC broadcaster Colleen Jones, who has graduated from the Patient Empowerment Program, talked about its enduring effects as she emceed the premiere.

“I don’t know if you ever really graduate,” she said. “You just keep applying the lessons you learned. It’s Rob and Gabriela … They’re like, for me, a little bit of a lighthouse, guiding me through the storm.”

At the premiere, which about 125 people attended in person and 622 watched online, Rutledge described meeting people in his waiting room every Monday morning as they seek cancer treatment.

Waiting, worrying, wasting

Those people are waiting, worrying, and wasting, he said.

“They’ve suffered with anxiety for months…. [and] they’ve been wasting their precious time worrying instead of empowering themselves,” Rutledge added.

“And we as a system have wasted the opportunity for them to get through their treatments more easily.”

His desire to help those patients regain control over their lives and improve their health and their outlook prompted Rutledge to collaborate with Ilie on the program.

“My passion is empowering people,” Rutledge says in the film, describing the way Dr. Bernie Siegel’s work on the healing power of the body and the spirit influenced his own beliefs and his work.

“The secret sauce to this program is the human-to-human connection.

Eventually, Ilie and Rutledge hope the Patient Empowerment Program will be integrated into standard care, not only in Nova Scotia but in other jurisdictions.

“I really want this … to be a huge success story for Nova Scotia,” Rutledge said.

Currently, there are PEP programs open in New Zealand, Belgium, South Africa, and Romania. They are working with five other countries, including Ireland and Australia, to open the program there.

Rutledge and Ilie hope their documentary will help spread the word about the program.

Empower is headed for a “limited festival run,” Boyce told the audience at the premiere, so is not yet available for screening on YouTube or any streaming service. 

Those interested in a private viewing can contact Rob.Rutledge@nshealth.ca or Gabriela.Ilie@dal.ca.