What good looks like in prehabilitation and rehabilitation for people with cancer has been set out below through the lens of people with cancer, carers, families and wider networks and Healthcare service providers.

Prehabilitation/rehabilitation pathways and services should be:

• Easy to access
• Timely
• Joined up/coordinated
• Accessible for all

The approach to support you should:

• Understand you and the things that are important to you
• Focus your goals on things you identify as important and what you want to achieve
• Involve your family and support networks
• Provide choice and control in how support is delivered

The Community Rehabilitation Alliance have produced this best practice standard for community rehabilitation

1. There is a single point of contact available to me to coordinate my prehabilitation and rehabilitation where there is the knowledge and skills to help me. This person could be a care coordinator in primary care, a support worker or a pathway navigator in secondary care or a registered health care professional in primary or secondary care.
2. I have knowledge of, and access to, coordinated services providing prehabilitation and rehabilitation that are reliable, personalised and consistent.
3. My prehabilitation and rehabilitation will be relevant to me, focus on all my needs and/or will support me to adapt to changing situations/ circumstances return to my roles and responsibilities whether that be at home/work/volunteering or other activities.
4. My prehabilitation and rehabilitation experience and outcomes are improved by being considered by everyone involved in my health and wellbeing working in partnership with me and my family, carers and wider networks where appropriate.
5. My prehabilitation and rehabilitation supports me to have the confidence to manage my health and wellbeing making the best use of developing technologies where appropriate.
6. I work with my team to agree goals and a prehab/rehab plan that are meaningful to me and for where I am now. We agree how goals will be measured, how we will know if our approach/plan is working and when/how progress/plans will be reviewed including how I can ask for a review if/when things change.
7. My prehabilitation and rehabilitation supports me in my aspirations and goals to reach my potential and/or prioritise things that are most important to me.
8. I can access and refer myself to services easily when I need to and as my needs change.
9. People who are supporting me are recognised and supported during my prehabilitation and rehabilitation.
10. I am provided with information on my progress as I need it and information is shared, with my consent, with those who I agree are involved in my prehabilitation and rehabilitation. Consideration is given about the type of information that would work for me based on my background, health literacy and digital literacy as well as preferred formats I would wish to receive information in.

Carers are children and adults who are paid or unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. Carers are also patients – a group with their own particular health needs – who the NHS needs to treat and support. Carers are important partners in care: they are the people who will spot when someone is relapsing, or who can share valuable information about treatment that worked in the past.

1. As someone supporting a person with cancer I am recognised and supported during the persons prehabilitation and rehabilitation.
2. I am supported to stay as healthy as possible and to anticipate future challenges. This includes identifying and supporting the family members and carers with their physical and mental health and referring carers to local support and services.
3. As a carer I may feel that there’s not enough hours in the day when I’m juggling things like care, work, family life and other commitments. It can help to acknowledge my feelings when you’re tired and stressed and think about how I am coping. It can be helpful to write a list of the support the person you’re caring for needs can help including:

• what you can help them with?
• what things you need support with?
• how to tell when things may be becoming too much for you to cope with.

4. I am notified that I may be eligible for a carer’s needs assessment from my local social care services. This needs assessments will ask about my needs and how being a carer impacts my life.
5. My life (my interests, hobbies and time with friends and family) is acknowledged as important. I am encouraged to build in some time for myself into the day – even if it’s just for 10 minutes. This might be relaxing with a magazine, enjoying a hot bath, calling a friend – whatever makes me feel good. It can be hard to make the time for catching up but keeping in touch with others can help.
6. Caring comes with all sorts of feelings. Some days, caring can feel rewarding. Other days, you can be overcome with guilt, resentment, anger, loneliness and depression. Try talking to someone you trust, your GP or the Samaritans on 116 123.
7. The person and us, as carers, can access and refer themselves to services easily when they need to and as their needs change.
8. Include family/carers (where agreed and appropriate) in prehabilitation/rehabilitation planning discussions and potentially plans – e.g. they may play a role in supporting/endorsing behaviour change, plans may be dependent on them contributing time/effort.