a cross-sectional study into UK healthcare professionals’ views
David Curtin Macmillan Cancer Support prehabilitation project manager/clinical lead oncology speech and language therapist, North West Cancer Centre, Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Western Health and Social Care Trust, Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Julie Armoogum Senior lecturer, University of the West of England, Bristol, England
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• To consider the barriers to implementing prehabilitation for patients with cancer
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• To enhance your understanding of the prerequisites for developing sustainable prehabilitation services
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• To appreciate the need for increased staff training on prehabilitation and its implementation
Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the eighth most common cancer in the UK and is associated with significant morbidity. There is a paucity of evidence regarding prehabilitation for people with HNC and more research is needed to ensure patients are well prepared for treatment and its aftermath.
Aim To explore UK healthcare professionals’ views on HNC prehabilitation service delivery.
Method A prospective and descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. A total of 118 healthcare professionals working with patients with HCN in the UK completed an online survey. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and free-text comments were analysed using qualitative inductive content analysis.
Findings Almost all respondents considered that prehabilitation benefits patients with HNC and a large majority favoured service delivery within a clinic led by a multidisciplinary team (MDT). However, over half of respondents said they would not have capacity to provide prehabilitation in the next 12 months. Over half of respondents expressed a need for training on prehabilitation and the implementation and evaluation of a prehabilitation service. Further prerequisites for setting up an HNC prehabilitation service included sustained funding and robust governance structures.
Conclusion The study adds to the limited evidence base on prehabilitation service delivery for patients with HNC. Its findings regarding the prerequisites for implementing HNC prehabilitation could be used to guide the planning of new services.
Cancer Nursing Practice.
doi: 10.7748/cnp.2025.e1891
Peer review
This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence
Conflict of interest
None declared
Curtin D, Armoogum J (2025) Prehabilitation service delivery for patients with head and neck cancer: a cross-sectional study into UK healthcare professionals’ views. Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2025.e1891
Funding
This study was conducted as part of an MSc module funded by Macmillan Cancer Support. Macmillan Cancer Support had no involvement in the study design, findings, analysis or publication
Published online: 04 September 2025
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