Face-to-face vs. live remotely supervised exercise prehabilitation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acceptability, feasibility and safety of face-to-face compared to live remotely supervised exercise prehabilitation for people living with cancer
IRAS ID
315703
Contact name
Liam Humphreys
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Hallam University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cancer prehabilitation services were forced to rapidly shift from face-to-face delivery to remote alternatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before this, face-to-face delivery of supervised, personalised exercise was advocated. Evidence demonstrates that exercise is safe for people living with cancer, providing other comorbidities are considered and exercise programmes are adapted to account for treatment-related side-effects. Preliminary scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests that remotely supervised exercise rehabilitation is also safe, feasible and acceptable in this population. However, further research is needed to confirm preliminary findings, focus on the prehabilitation period specifically and to provide comparisons with face-to-face delivery. In addition, exploring the perceived barriers and facilitators of remote services from the perspective of service users, deliverers and NHS managers will lead to optimised service design. Allaying safety concerns of patients and their care teams may lead to widespread provision and uptake of remote exercise rehabilitation for cancer patients.
This study is an opportunistic evaluation of an existing service for patients receiving treatment (with curative intent) from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STH) with lung, colorectal, or upper GI cancer. The Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), in partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) and STH are implementing an evidence-based multi-modal rehabilitation service. The Active Together service provides both face-to-face and live remotely supervised exercise rehabilitation to suit the individual needs and preferences of patients. This study will assess the acceptability, feasibility and safety of each prehabilitation delivery mode for people living with cancer.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0017
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion