Cancer Rehab Team
Prehab to Rehab, from your diagnosis onwards
How can we help?
We are based in the Brownsword Therapies Centre. We work alongside our Macmillan Cancer Support colleagues to help you live well with and beyond cancer.
Our team provides advice, support and signposting from your diagnosis onwards, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation.
We aim to empower you to move forwards positively in your life and to provide you with the tools and support to prepare for treatment, self-manage symptoms of cancer and cancer treatment, enhance your recovery and live well with your diagnosis.
What is Prehabilitation?
Prehabilitation is a way to prepare your mind and body ahead of future cancer treatment. Making a small number of changes now can make a big difference to the way that you respond and recover from cancer treatment. Going through cancer treatment can feel like a marathon, and you would not run a marathon without training beforehand.
What does prehabilitation involve?
The factors that we know are important for your health include:
- Nutrition
- Physical activity and exercise
- Mental wellbeing
- Smoking cessation and cutting down on alcohol
Evidence shows actively improving both physical and mental wellbeing ahead of treatment can help you recover more quickly from cancer treatment and reduce the chance of further problems and side effects. Please see more information here.
What is Rehabilitation?
This can help you manage the side effects of cancer, cancer treatment and return to activities of daily living.
Our Cancer Prehab to Rehab Services include:
- Outpatient appointments – Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Dietitions and Speech & Language Therapists provide support prior to and during treatment.
- Inpatient ward-based care – Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists provide support to patients on the William Budd ward including:
- holistic assessments and interventions to improve mobility and make everyday tasks more manageable
- advice and help with controlling physical symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue
- advice and support to help people to plan – eg. adjusting to life changes, how and where care can be provided
- Support for palliative patients in partnership with Dorothy House and Macmillan. Please also see our Palliative Care Team page.
- Outpatient Hydrotherapy
- Macmillan HOPE course (Help Overcoming Problems Effectively). This is in partnership with the RUH Macmillan Cancer Support Team.
- Signposting and possible onward referral to specialist services.
Our Team
Our team includes Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Dietitians, Cancer Prehabilitation Support Workers and Administrators. We work closely with the Psychology team and colleagues from the Macmillan Wellbeing Hub.
