Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes (BLMK) integrated care board (ICB) commissioned Health Innovation East to evaluate engagement with the ICB’s Cancer (P)rehabilitation programme across the region, assess its impact on patient outcomes and quality of life, and explore patient and staff experiences of the programme.
BLMK ICB funded eight personal trainers across the ICB to complete Level 4 Cancer Rehabilitation training to deliver cancer (p)rehabilitation across the ICB. Whilst people are using the service, it was not known who is engaging with it, the impact of the service on patients’ quality of life and wellbeing and what patients’ experiences of the service were. BLMK ICB were also looking to discover how they could best support the personal trainers to continue delivering the service and improve trainer retention.
The findings and recommendations from the five month evaluation were intended to inform service improvement and any future implementation of innovations delivering Cancer (P)rehabilitation across the region.
Cancer survival rates are improving but the physical and psychological effects of cancer and its treatment can last long after treatments end. (P)rehabilitation aims to get patients as fit and healthy as possible before, during and after cancer treatment.
The evaluation was designed to enable BLMK ICB to know whether the service was having its intended impact and whether it should continue to support funding the qualification for the personal trainers. BLMK ICB were also looking to investigate whether there is a role for innovation to support its delivery and whether clinicians and patients would support this idea.
Health Innovation East conducted a mixed-methods evaluation across BLMK ICB between August 2024 to March 2024.
Three groups of participants were approached to take part in the evaluation; any patient ever diagnosed with cancer living in BLMK, clinicians working in BLMK responsible for referring cancer patients to cancer (p)rehabilitation and level 4 cancer (p)rehabilitation-trained personal trainers in BLMK.
An online survey was used to collect data from the clinician and cancer patient cohorts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture the experience of the personal trainers and any recommendations for improving the service. Any available data from the personal trainers about the patients attending their sessions, such as usage, engagement and demographics, was also collected.
The final stage of the project was an innovation horizon scan to discover whether there were any suitable innovations for delivering cancer (p)rehabilitation. Specification for the innovation was developed from clinician and patients’ survey responses.
The evaluation found patients, clinicians and personal trainers agreed that cancer prehab brings a wide range of benefits to cancer patients including improving physical and mental health, provided social benefits and empowered patients.
The majority of patients who responded to the survey were not aware of the service and more than half of eligible clinicians were also unaware.
59% patients and all but one clinician were supportive of the role of innovation in supporting delivery of cancer (p)rehab. However, personal trainers reported not having capacity to take on many more patients. The role of innovation in supporting delivery of the service may enable more patients to access the sessions and reach those unable to join in-person currently.
The horizon scan identified six potential innovations meeting the requirements to support delivery of the service.
Health Innovation East produced a series of six actionable recommendations to develop the work further. They recommended ensuring equitable delivery of the service by exploring the role innovations may play and encouraged engaging with more underserved groups to explore their views of the service.
Following the evaluation, BLMK ICB are re-forming the cancer p(rehab) working group and are currently training two more personal trainers in Milton Keynes.
BLMK ICB continue to work through the recommendations from Health Innovation East.
Read the full evaluation report here
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