We want to ensure everyone starts their cancer treatment as fit and as healthy as possible. We recognise that everyone is different, including their level of health and fitness. This means at the point of cancer diagnosis some individuals will have a high level of fitness, others a low level and most somewhere in between so, we start with an initial face-to-face consultation to map out how we are able to support you.
Our programme offer includes access to the following support:
Face-to-Face fitness support clinics over a range of locations across the county with our cancer specialist exercise instructor
Access to a range of leisure centres and pools across the county
Pre-recorded online video content available in this page
Use of patient exercise videos online.
We would encourage engagement with groups similar to 5k Your Way to support all our patients in every way possible.
Access to our tools starts with an initial screening assessment where you will have questionnaires to complete, and an initial base line assessment is made.
During this assessment you will be given exercises you can carry out at home to help you build up your cardio vascular fitness together with strength and conditioning. You will be sent links to Rehab my Patient videos to help support you at home and ensure that you complete your exercises correctly
Face-to-face clinics
Our face to face clinics are currently held at the following locations:
Deane Barton in Cotford St Luke
Victoria Park in Bridgwater,
Bridgwater and Taunton School
Leisure centre offer
We are delighted to be able to work with multiple Leisure Centres around the county to provide access to patients closer to their homes such as Everyone Active, Freedom Leisure, 1610, SASP and Fusion Lifestyle offering our Somerset Prehab for Cancer patients access to gym and swimming facilities.
Everyone Active
For patients living in Taunton we have worked with Everyone Active who are offering access to their following services
For patients that live in West Somerset we have worked with SASP who have and are delighted to be able to offer a bespoke service in the Beach Wellness Gym in Minehead.
1610
For patients living in either Chard or Bridgwater we have worked with 1610 and are able to offer access to their leisure centres in both towns.
Rehab my Patient
One of the outcomes from your physical assessment should be a series of home exercise videos using Rehab My Patient. These combined videos will provide a home exercise programme that together with some simple equipment should help you exercise at home
Pre-recorded video content
Pre-recorded video content helps to provide exercise videos that can be followed at home or at your convenience elsewhere. These are open videos and are available for everyone to use, and can support patients with a range of work outs, check with your fitness co-ordinator that they are suitable for you before you start.
The Manchester Prehab 4 Cancer Programme has created a range of tools specifically for this purpose and have agreed that these can be shared with other programmes. Below are a selection of videos that are available, more can be found on their YouTube channel here
There are pre-recorded videos hosted on the Penny Brohn website which has been developed to support patients and can be found here.
5k Your Way
5k Your Way is a community-based parkrun event on the last Saturday of every month initiative to encourage those living with and after cancer, families, friends, and those working in cancer services to walk, jog, run, cheer or volunteer at a local 5k Your Way
The Taunton Parkrun at Longrun Meadow is used for our Beacon patients and the group meets at 8:45 at The Weir cafe. It would be great to have as many people as we can engaging with this group both joining in or encouraging others to complete the distance.
Move Against Cancer
Move Against Cancer is a programme for anyone aged 13-30 diagnosed with cancer and is designed and delivered by MOVE (please write in full) Level 4 Cancer Rehab Specialists. They offer a free 8-week online building foundations programme for 13 – 30year-olds living with and following cancer treatment. This programme is available to all, regardless of whether they have been active or inactive before they were diagnosed with cancer.
The aim is to:
Reduce short-term and long-term effects of treatment.
Self-manage and reduce cancer related fatigue
Improve function and overall quality of life
Improve fitness
Improve muscle strength and conditioning
Improve mental wellbeing
Help young people to live a happier and healthier life.
Keep exercise and activities fun and interactive
Prostate Specific Exercises
Together with some of the strength and conditioning or cardiovascular programmes that we encourage patient to engage with, there are some specific exercises we would advise our prostate patients to consider, to support their pelvic floor strength. If you are one of our prostate patients it is possible you will be offered a face-to-face physiotherapy session to discuss your pelvic floor, but you can start to do these exercises beforehand.
It is important that you do not forget to do and maintain your pelvic floor muscle exercises on a regular basis making them become part of your daily routine for life It is easy to forget to do your pelvic floor muscle exercises and important to maintain them, so try to make sure your exercises become part of your daily routine just like brushing your teeth. You should continue doing the exercises on a regular basis for the rest of your life.
When you have been diagnosed with cancer, it will help you to improve your quality of life if you carry on being active. There may be a temptation for your friends and family to do things for you, but it will help improve how you are feeling both physically and mentally if you do things for yourself whenever you are able to. You should try and do 20-30 minutes of activity every day. If you do not feel you can manage this in one go, try doing 10-15 minutes activity in the morning and then another 10-15 minutes in the afternoon.
