Prehabilitation and rehabilitation supports people living with cancer to prepare for treatment and recover afterwards. It promotes healthy behaviours and prescribes exercise, nutrition and psychological interventions based on a person’s needs. This helps people affected by cancer to prepare for their treatment and supports their recovery to improve their quality of life. It has a strong evidence base in its effectiveness and helps to tackle health inequalities and is aligned with the personalised care agenda of the NHS Long Term Plan and NICE guidance.
We have worked with health and care professionals and charity and voluntary sector partners to produce Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation Guidance. This is designed to help service providers and commissioners to understand prehabilitation and rehabilitation for people with cancer and consider how services can be developed to support people multiple long term conditions including cancer.
We are currently working with experts from across the system to assess access to cancer psychological support services and to make recommendations for improvements.