Introduction

Prehabilitation, or prehab, means getting ready for cancer treatment before the treatment starts. It can help people improve their physical fitness, nutrition and wellbeing. This aids recovery.

There are 5 main points:

• exercise
• diet
• wellbeing
• stopping smoking
• cutting down alcohol

Research has shown it can help you:

• avoid complications after surgery
• have better health before surgery
• leave hospital sooner after surgery
• improve your long term health after treatment

The graph below is from Macmillan. It shows how prehab can help patients before and after treatment.

This video is from Cancer Research UK. It tells you how to get ready for treatment and life after.

This link is for Northern Cancer Alliance’s information about prehab. It tells you about some things you can do to get you ready for treatment. It includes six videos with worksheets that you can download. There is also a leaflet with general information about Prehabilitation.