What is ‘prehabilitation’
Evidence shows that improving your physical and mental wellbeing can help you cope with what lies ahead. We call this prehabilitation, or prehab for short.
As well as helping you to cope, prehabilitation can help you to recover more quickly from surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and reduce the chance of developing other problems during and after treatment.
Prehabilitation” or “prehab” can also be referred to as “waiting well” or “preparation for treatment”. Cancer prehabilitation focusses on areas such as physical activity, nutrition & diet and mental health and wellbeing, as well as smoking and alcohol reduction.
Cancer patients who get support early on and are as healthy as possible before treatment starts are more likely to:
- leave hospital sooner after cancer surgery
- cope better with the side effects of cancer treatment
- have fewer side effects
- have more treatment options
- have better long-term health
Small changes can make a big difference…
You might not have a lot of time between finding out you have cancer and beginning treatment. But even a small number of changes can make a difference.