Information for health professionals
Our service is continuing to support people living with cancer to get active and is open to new referrals. If you are a health professional working with patients in south west London, you can refer to us. Physical activity can have positive impacts at every stage of cancer treatment (Figure 1), and we accept patients with any type of cancer regardless of how long ago the diagnosis was made. If the patient would benefit from physical activity support, we are happy to help.
We support people to increase their physical activity levels and meet the national recommended levels of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. Macmillan estimates that only 40 percent of people living with cancer meet this recommendation, despite a growing body of evidence showing that it can help manage the side effects of cancer treatment and reduce of other long-term conditions. Research also shows that physical activity reduces the risk of reoccurrence in some cancers.
Our service focuses on behaviour change and is suitable for people thinking about physical activity but not yet made the decision to start and/or anyone having concerns about their ability to become active.
We have been delivering Move More Wandsworth for the past four years and have demonstrated it is an effective service at increasing physical activity, reducing fatigue and improving quality of life. Read our results.
Patients can be referred by completing this referral form and sending it to swlccg.movemorewandsworth@nhs.net. Find out more about how the referral pathway works.
We also offer training sessions to health professional to help raise awareness of the importance of physical activity to people living with cancer and signpost people to further support.
- Understand the importance of physical activity for people living with cancer.
- Find out what resources are available to support people to become more active.
- Learn how to deliver effective advice on physical activity in less than two minutes using ‘ask, advise, act’ method
Duration: One hour
Value of this training
Physical activity has been proven to have many benefits for people living with and beyond cancer. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that all health and social care professionals should be encouraged to deliver very brief advice to motivate people to make a lifestyle change.
This training provides skills to do this and help people to self-manage more effectively.
The training is accredited by the Royal College of General Practitioners and The Royal College of Nursing.
If you’re interested in hosting a course at your practice or if you’d like to register your interest as an individual, please contact Beth Brown beth.brown@nhs.net or 020 3959 0031.