Prehabilitation in Practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prehabilitation in Practice: Evaluating Prehabilitation Services in the North East
IRAS ID
338631
Contact name
Katie Di Sebastiano
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Durham University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Prehabilitation is an intervention that occurs after a cancer diagnosis and before treatment. It usually involves exercise, dietary changes and mental health support. Prehabilitation has demonstrated a variety of benefits in a variety of cancer populations. This includes improved physical fitness and mental health, fewer treatment complications, reduced stay in hospital, and lower health care costs.
Because of these benefits, the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust implemented the Cancer Treatment Outcome Programme (CTOP) in 2021. This programme offers prehabilitation for colorectal, lung, gynaecological, and head and neck cancers. Additionally, Gateshead Health Foundation Trust is setting up their own prehabilitation service. The Northern Cancer Alliance will develop prehabilitation services across the North of England.
Yet, much of what we know about prehabilitation comes from research studies. This is a problem because research studies do not consider the challenges of running prehabilitation programmes in the real world. The real world is more complex than a research study. There are factors outside of the programme that determine if it is successful. Healthcare and prehabilitation services are complex adaptive systems. This means that they do not react predictably to change. Understanding the challenges of running prehabilitation is essential to the success of future programmes. This project proposes to fill this gap.
We will investigate the implementation and outcomes of the existing prehabilitation programmes. We will also assess barriers and facilitators to participation in prehabilitation services. Patient, service provider and clinical staff perspectives will be collected using a survey. Qualitative interviews will also be used to assess perceptions and experiences with prehabilitation.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EE/0285
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion