A recent review published in JAMA Psychiatry highlights a powerful but often underused treatment strategy in medicine: physical activity. The article, “Integrating Physical Activity Into Routine Psychiatric Care,” summarizes a growing body of evidence showing that exercise is not just beneficial for physical health—it is a meaningful therapeutic intervention for mental health conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
While the publication focuses on psychiatric populations, its message is highly relevant to cancer survivors and cancer care providers, because mental health challenges are common throughout the cancer journey. Depression, anxiety, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties are frequently reported during treatment and survivorship. Exercise oncology research has already demonstrated that physical activity can help address these issues, and this review further strengthens the scientific case for integrating exercise into routine clinical care.
The Inactivity Problem
People living with severe mental illness often experience dramatically lower levels of physical activity. Many spend 8–10 hours per day sedentary, and fewer than half meet recommended activity levels.
This inactivity contributes to a cascade of health risks, including:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Metabolic disorders
- Cognitive decline
- Reduced quality of life
- Premature mortality
In fact, individuals with severe mental illness experience a 10- to 20-year reduction in life expectancy, largely due to cardiometabolic disease.
Cancer survivors face a similar pattern. After diagnosis or treatment, many patients become less physically active due to fatigue, treatment side effects, emotional distress, or uncertainty about what exercise is safe. This sedentary pattern can worsen metabolic health, increase cardiovascular risk, and impair recovery.
The takeaway is clear: sedentary behavior is a major but modifiable health risk.
How Exercise Improves Mental and Physical Health
The review highlights several biological pathways through which exercise improves mental health. These mechanisms are equally relevant to cancer survivorship.
Physical activity has been shown to:
- Reduce chronic inflammation
- Improve regulation of stress hormones
- Enhance dopamine signaling related to motivation and reward
- Increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports brain health
- Improve insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular fitness
These effects translate into measurable clinical benefits. Studies summarized in the review show that structured exercise programs produce moderate to large improvements in depressive symptoms, anxiety, cognition, and cardiometabolic health.
For cancer survivors, these same mechanisms may help improve:
- cancer-related fatigue
- treatment-associated depression and anxiety
- cognitive impairment (“chemo brain”)
- overall resilience and quality of life
Exercise is therefore not only a physical intervention but also a powerful neurobiological therapy.
Making Physical Activity a “Vital Sign”
One of the most important messages in the review is that clinicians should treat physical activity as a routine vital sign during patient visits.
A simple screening question—such as asking patients how many minutes of moderate activity they perform each week—can quickly identify inactivity.
Integrating Physical Activity I…
The authors recommend a structured framework called the 5A model for integrating exercise into clinical care:
Ask – Screen patients for activity levels and sedentary time.
Assess – Identify barriers, preferences, and medical considerations.
Advise – Provide personalized guidance on physical activity.
Assist – Support goal setting and behavioral change strategies.
Arrange – Provide follow-up and referrals to exercise professionals or community programs.
This approach mirrors what exercise oncology programs already strive to implement within cancer care systems.
What Type of Activity Helps?
Current guidelines recommend aiming for:
- 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, and
- two sessions of strength training weekly.
However, the review emphasizes an important principle:
“Some activity is better than none.”
Patients should start with activities they enjoy and can sustain, such as:
- Walking
- Cycling
- Yoga
- Dancing
- Light resistance training
Breaking up prolonged sitting—standing or walking briefly every hour—also provides measurable health benefits.
For many patients, supervised or group exercise programs produce better adherence and outcomes.
Why This Matters for Cancer Survivorship
Mental health challenges are common among cancer survivors. Studies estimate that up to 30–40% of patients experience clinically significant depression or anxiety during or after treatment.
Exercise offers a safe and evidence-based strategy to help address these challenges.
For cancer survivors, physical activity can:
- Reduce fatigue
- Improve mood and sleep
- Enhance cognitive function
- Support cardiometabolic health
- Improve long-term survivorship outcomes
Just as importantly, exercise helps restore something many patients feel they have lost during cancer treatment: a sense of agency and control over their health.
A Call to Action for Healthcare Providers
The central conclusion of this review is simple but powerful: physical activity should be considered a core component of clinical care, not merely a lifestyle recommendation.
For cancer healthcare providers, this means:
- discussing physical activity at routine visits
- referring patients to exercise oncology or rehabilitation programs
- encouraging gradual increases in movement
- addressing barriers such as fatigue, access, or fear of injury
Health systems can also support this shift by embedding exercise specialists within care teams and developing community partnerships for survivorship programs.
The CancerFitness.org Perspective
The evidence is becoming overwhelming: exercise is medicine for both the body and the mind.
Whether the challenge is depression, chronic disease, or cancer survivorship, regular physical activity can help patients reclaim strength, resilience, and quality of life.
At CancerFitness.org, our mission is to help cancer survivors and their care teams understand and apply this science. Movement is not simply rehabilitation—it is a critical part of survivorship care.
Every step, every walk, every strength session contributes to recovery and long-term health.
Reference: Integrating Physical Activity Into Routine Psychiatric Care
A Review. Brendon Stubbs, PhD; Ruimin Ma, PhD; Megan Teychenne, PhD; Florence Kinnafick, PhD; Nilufar Mossaheb,MD, PhD; Nicole Korman, MD; Mike Trott, PhD; Simon Rosenbaum, PhD; Felipe Schuch, PhD; Joseph Firth, PhD; Davy Vancampfort, PhDJAMA Psychiatry Published online March 4, 2026
