Minimum guidance and recommendations for prehabilitation screening and assessment for people with cancer across Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are set out. This guidance and recommendations aim to ensure consistency, equity, and quality in identifying patient needs and tailoring interventions including exercise, nutrition and psychological support before, during, and after cancer treatment as identified in the recently updated national prehabilitation in people with cancer: clinical and implementation guidelines
a) Personalisation
Screening and assessment must enable tailored interventions across exercise, nutrition, psychological support, and behaviour change. Healthcare professionals may wish to use other specific tools in their practice in addition to those suggested here.
b) Repeat Screening
Patients on prolonged or complex cancer pathways should undergo repeat screening at key transition points to ensure timely identification of emerging needs.
c) Understanding context
Assessment should consider the wider current and historical determinants of health, including mental health history, psychosocial support, cognitive abilities, financial pressures, engagement with healthcare, and inequalities.
d) Multi‑disciplinary collaboration
Screening and assessment should be embedded across the cancer pathway, with clear referral routes and shared understanding across primary care, perioperative medicine, surgery, oncology, nurses, allied health professionals and psychology professionals.
It is recommended that all provider organisations in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who offer prehabilitation and rehabilitation services will:
- Adopt the recommended screening and assessment tools recommended as standard practice
- Share experiences of implementation through the Wessex Cancer Alliance Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation Community of Practice
- Ensure staff are trained and competent in using and interpreting the tools to guide patient care
- Embed tools within digital referral and documentation systems where possible
- Participate in shared audit and evaluation to monitor consistency and outcomes
Summary of recommended screening and assessment tools
| Intervention | Recommended prehabilitation screening tools | Recommended prehabilitation assessment tools |
| Exercise | International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) |
6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) |
| Nutrition | Patient Generated –Subjective Global Assessment Short form | Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment questionnaire |
| Psychology | Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) | Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) |