Prehabilitation

If you have been referred to prehabilitation please see the following videos and information. You will be contacted by the prehabilitation team to arrange your first appointment.

What is Prehabilitation?

Prehabilitation is a course of supervised exercise and wellbeing sessions. This is a new service provided by the health board.
Your Consultant is referring you with the aim of:

making you stronger to help you get through your operation with less complications
improving your understanding of the pre and post-operative process
providing support on wellbeing and lifestyle

This will help you prepare for your surgery and recover more quickly.

Why is it important prior to surgery?

Prehabilitation will get you stronger and fitter. This will help you get through your operation and recover with less complications and get you home and back to normal.

What should I expect?

Pre-operative assessment clinic - to check your medical conditions

Nurse and pharmacist
Questionnaire - past medical history, medications, full health check, examination
Blood tests and any other investigations

Prehabilitation programme - to get you stronger

Physiotherapist, occupational therapists, dietitian, exercise specialist
up to 4 weeks with 3 sessions per week
Group sessions split into 1 hour of exercises and 1 hour of well being sessions.

What will be expected of me?

You will be encouraged to follow a home exercise programme with support from the prehabilitation team. You will also be required to attend three group sessions per week.

This will help you prepare physically and mentally for your surgery.

What will the wellbeing sessions focus on?

Support and services available to you:

Eating well
Managing stress/anxiety
Relaxation techniques
Sleeping well
Smoking cessation

What are the benefits of Prehabilitation?

What if I am having chemo/radiotherapy?

There may be times during your treatment when you feel unwell and tired. We can guide you on appropriate levels of exercise/activity during this time with regular reviews.
Research tells us that exercising during cancer treatment is safe and actually makes patients feel better.
It is important to stay as active as possible. Regular contact with the therapists during your treatment will help support your progress.