An Edinburgh Napier academic has been appointed co-investigator on SafeFit, a new online clinical trial offering emotional, physical and healthy eating support to people dealing with cancer.
Professor Anna Campbell, from the School of Applied Sciences, is founder and chair of the CanRehab Trust, a spin-off company from her research which supports people living with the disease in the UK in being active.
CanRehab Trust sees people who have had a cancer diagnosis matched with a registered qualified cancer exercise instructor who will provide a safe, effective and individualised programme.
National Lottery funding, through the Royal College of Anaesthetists, will now allow the CanRehab Trust to help more people living through the Covid-19 pandemic with a diagnosis or suspicion of cancer to access SafeFit. More than 300 people in the SafeFit trial have so far been linked with CanRehab instructors.
The ground-breaking clinical trial builds on studies indicating that ‘prehabilitation’- getting into the best possible shape before and during cancer treatment – has significant benefits for patients’ wellbeing, quality of life and readiness for major surgery.
SafeFit offers remote support with exercise, nutritional advice and mental wellbeing. After an initial assessment, patients can benefit from one-to-one telephone or video consultations, video exercise sessions and virtual group exercise sessions.
As well as the CanRehab Trust, other organisations involved in developing SafeFit include University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support, Royal College of Anaesthetists, Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC), National Institute for Health Research Cancer and Nutrition Collaboration, University of Southampton, and Wessex Cancer Alliance.
Professor Campbell, pictured, said: “CanRehab Trust is delighted to be part of this very important clinical trial. The instructors on the CanRehab Trust Register are able to provide this support to people affected by cancer during this difficult period.
“Our registered cancer exercise specialists have received excellent additional training by the clinical trial team in order to provide the complete SafeFit offer of exercise, nutritional and emotional support.”
CanRehab Instructor Marie McLaughlin said: “Being an instructor on the SafeFit trial has been a fantastic experience. The feedback from the participants has been very positive, with benefits shown in their mood, body composition, strength, and fitness, which have all transferred into their everyday lives.
“For me, it has been very rewarding to see progression in the participants from our first chat back at the start of the trial, where they were struggling with exercise participation and juggling a lot of different life commitments to now, where exercise and healthy eating is part of their daily routines.
“Participants have expressed that having exercise and healthy eating habits as a constant in their lives now helps them to cope with stress and to feel fit enough to get through the day.”
SafeFit participant Yvonne Mackerlich Maule added: “I had tried my best to keep exercising and fit during treatment, but it wasn’t as much as I would have liked. At the end of treatment, I did not recognise who I was physically or emotionally, and it was starting to take its toll. Being accepted on to the SafeFit trial gave me the hope and much needed boost to look at myself and what I needed as an individual to get my life back on track.”
People living with cancer can benefit from being physically active and overcome fatigue, anxiety, and depression, while protecting the heart, lungs and bones. In some cases, being physically active has been shown to slow disease progression, improve survival and reduce the chance of recurrence.
The SafeFit trial is on the National Institute for Health Research portfolio of Covid-19 priority trials. It is hoped that the results of this clinical trial will provide the evidence for SafeFit to become a recognised business as usual patient service.