Cancer rehabilitation attempts to maximise patients ability to function, to promote their independence and to help them to adapt to their condition. It offers a major route to improving their quality of life, no matter how long or short the timescale.
For information on the National Rehabilitation Pathways, the AHP evidence review and much more (Updated Febraury 2012):(Click Here)
Rehabilitation aims to improve quality of life, maximise dignity and reduce the extent to which cancer interferes with an individual’s physical, psychological,social and economic functioning
(Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer, NICE 2004).
The 4 stages of cancer rehabilitation demonstrate how rehabilitation is integral to patient centred care:
Preventative:
Reducing the impact of expected disabilities and providing assistance in learning to cope with any disabilities
Restorative:
Returning the patient to pre-illness level without disability
Supportive:
In the presence of persistent disease and continual need for treatment, goal is to limit functional loss and provide support
Palliative:
In the event of further loss of function, put in place measures which eliminate or reduce complications and provide support (symptom management).
Cancer and its treatment can have a major impact on a patient’s ability to carry on with their usual daily routines. Activities that most people take for granted, e.g. moving, speaking, eating, drinking and engaging in sexual activity, can all be impaired. Cancer patients may struggle to care for themselves, undertake day to day activities, go to work or pursue their interests.
A rehabilitation group has been established within the Peninsula Cancer Network. The chair is Linda Bedford Macmillan AHP Lead. For further information please contact Linda Bedford at the Peninsula Cancer Network