Program Description
As the focus on high-quality cancer care turns toward improving the individual patient experience and survivor population outcomes, while at the same time reducing healthcare costs, prehabilitation provides an excellent opportunity to support all of these goals. Not surprisingly, there has been a marked increase in clinicians, researchers, and payers wanting more information about evidence-based and best practices in cancer prehabilitation that begins shortly after diagnosis but before starting acute oncology therapies. Nurses have long been on the front lines of oncology care beginning at diagnosis. As such, they are uniquely positioned to lead and/or participate in cancer prehabilitation assessments and interventions. This is particularly true for nurse navigators. There are also opportunities for other navigators and healthcare professionals to participate in prehabilitation. This presentation focuses on evidence-based cancer prehabilitation and is intended to translate the current research into best practices in clinical care.
Learning Objectives
- Define cancer prehabilitation and describe its role as a distinct part of survivorship care
- Compare and contrast what navigators may be doing currently with survivors prior to the start of acute cancer care versus what would constitute evidence-based and/or best practices in prehabilitation
- Describe at least 2 ways in which prehabilitation may improve the patient experience
- Identify at least 3 physical and/or functional prehabilitation assessments that navigators may conduct
- Explain the scientific link between distress and physical outcomes
- Discuss dual screening for physical impairments and distress and explain how this may improve both the patient experience and survivor population outcomes
- Recommend future opportunities for navigators, particularly nurses, to develop more expertise with and become more involved in cancer prehabilitation
