Prehabilitation or prehab

Prehabilitation, also known as prehab, helps people with cancer to prepare for treatment by promoting healthy behaviours, through providing support with exercise, diet and mental health. It helps people be as strong and as healthy as possible before they start treatment.

This preparation for treatment then leads into rehabilitation, which takes place post treatment. The aim of prehabilitation is to empower patients to improve their resilience to treatment and improve their long-term health.

The actions patients take now can help with recovery more quickly and reduce the time they spend in hospital. Many people are glad to know they can do something immediately to help their health.

Prehabilitation has 3 main areas:

Physical exercise
Eating well
Good mental health

Watch our video below to find out more about prehabilitation and hear directly from patients who have benefited from it.

What is prehab?

Benefits of Prehabilitation

Reduces length of stay in hospital.
Enhances recovery following treatment.
Reduces post-op complications.
Provides an opportunity to stop smoking and drinking alcohol.
Improves fitness.
Improves nutritional health.
Enhances quality of life.

Prehabilitation can provide

Personal empowerment: A sense of control and purpose, which prepares you for surgery and improves your quality of life.
Physical and emotional strength: An opportunity to improve physical function and emotional wellbeing, which offers resilience to the effects of surgery, enhances the quality of recovery and helps you to live life as fully as you can.
Long-term health: An opportunity to reflect on the role of healthy lifestyle practices after a cancer diagnosis, to promote positive health behaviour change.

The benefits of prehabilitation can be seen in as little as 2 weeks.

Prehabilitation services in north east London

Download an information leaflet on Maggies Services for patients across north east London.