Giving cancer and lymphoedema patients access to the support and treatment they deserve in order to
38 Camden Road
Campbelltown, NSW
2560
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Why is it's important for all people to have access to cancer rehabilitation?
When it comes to treating an individual, who has been diagnosed with cancer, we fall significantly short of providing holistic, optimal cancer care. In Australia we have some of the best cancer survival rates in the world. We have many amazing charities and organisations that raise money for cancer research and assist in awareness campaigns. We have great screening programs for breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer and the availability of the HPV vaccine for preventing cervical cancer. However, we are unfortunately seeing our cancer rates increase, with 1 in 7 women being diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 in 7 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer. This increase in number of people being diagnosed, combined with the previously mentioned increased survival rates, means a high percentage of our population have had an unwanted intimate experience of a fight against cancer. The battle can leave many significant, long-lasting and debilitating ‘scars’, impacting all aspects of a person’s life and health. It is understandable that ensuring the eradication of the cancer the main focus of the medical team, but it is possible to minimise the damage done to the patients’ health and wellbeing and this is why cancer rehabilitation should be accessible for all cancer survivors. We should be empowering cancer survivors to take control over their cancer, not just be passive passengers that are left to clean up the mess the cancer and cancer treatment has made. And this is possible through the provision of high-quality, evidence-based cancer rehabilitation services.
Despite all the research, exercise oncology and cancer rehabilitation are still relatively unheard-of terms in our oncology world. I was motivated to move into cancer rehabilitation by the release of a position statement from the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia regarding exercise and in cancer care. This statement recommended that exercise should be “embedded as part of standard practice in cancer care and be viewed as an adjunct therapy that helps counteract the adverse effects of cancer and it’s treatment”. As a physiotherapist, I never knew the role I could be playing in the area of oncology as it was never part of my formal studies or resulting clinical experience. Once I went down the metaphorical ‘rabbit-hole’ and committed to learning more about cancer rehabilitation, I was in shock. I was shocked at how much evidence there was to support the implementation of cancer rehabilitation and also shocked at the fact that this evidence hasn’t be translated into services in our health system.
There are beginnings of cancer rehabilitation and exercise oncology making its way into our health care, with some small programs and services being integrated into our public and private systems. But trying to get the oncologists to change their ways and refer to these services has been one of the most difficult steps of starting my own private cancer rehabilitation clinic. Armed with the evidence, passion and word of mouth, I hope I can change this, to show the medical and my local community the importance of cancer rehabilitation and why all people should have access to cancer rehabilitation. I no longer want to hear ‘why wasn’t I told about this sooner?’ or struggling to get doctors to refer early. When the evidence is so strong about how cancer rehabilitation can attenuate the side effects of cancer treatment and enhance the outcomes and recovery from cancer, we need continue to work hard to ensure all people have access to cancer rehabilitation.
