A pilot project offering digital prehabilitation to newly-diagnosed head and neck cancer patients at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), has seen 11 patients already recruited.
The digital support is being offered by ONKO and has been funded by Macmillan Cancer Support.
It will enable 50 patients to receive prehab to optimise their health and wellbeing prior to, and during cancer treatment. They will receive health coaching along with exercise and intervention programmes through an App on their mobile device or web-based platform and will be provided with wearable devices to monitor their progress.
CHFT's Prehab Lead, Nicky Hill pictured nearest front, said, “This is a great opportunity to see how Prehab support can be offered digitally, and will mean people can receive support 24/7 at the touch of a button. The aim is to improve physical and psychological fitness, reduce complications from treatment and length of stay and demonstrate increased engagement to change behaviours and improve patient experience”.
One CHFT patient has already had a positive experience saying, “This has done me a world of good".
The ONKO team visited CHFT prior to the launch. Andrew Mason, Lead Specialist Nurse in the Head and Neck team, pictured standing, said: “This is a great opportunity to enhance the care and support offered to our patients and will provide timely prehab support assisting our specialist team in enhancing the physical and psychological recovery from treatment".
