'Pioneering' cancer service set to be expanded
A "pioneering" cancer support service which has helped more than 1,000 people in Sheffield is set to be rolled out across South and West Yorkshire.
Active Together offers personalised support with exercise, nutrition and wellbeing to help people with cancer at different stages of their treatment.
The free service said it aimed to save lives by increasing treatment options, reducing side-effects, speeding up recovery and improving long-term health outcomes.
It will now be expanded to hospitals in Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster after a £4m funding boost from the Yorkshire Cancer Research charity.
Another £1.9m will be spent on providing the service at community leisure centres in Wakefield, Pontefract and Huddersfield.
Patient Angela Jameel, who signed up after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, said: “I was intrigued and really excited about going.
"I talked about my diagnosis, how I was feeling, my lifestyle and my family and we discussed how I could fit in certain activities and exercises."
'Structured approach'
The service is designed and delivered by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Ms Jameel continued: “I loved the whole approach from preparing me, right through to the rehabilitation - It helped me recover from my surgery and I have continued with it through my chemotherapy.
“I have massive support at home from my family, but having this structured approach with the exercises and information has been immensely helpful.”
Yorkshire Cancer Research recently started running exercise sessions for cancer patients at its new centre in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
The charity hopes the NHS will eventually replicate the service across the country.
Dr Liam Humphries, research fellow at the AWRC, said: “Aerobic fitness can help with the side effects of treatment such as reducing fatigue, it helps people’s long term recovery but also helps people’s mental wellbeing.
“When someone is diagnosed with cancer it is a really stressful time, so the service offers psychological support as well - that might be just speaking with people in the group or accessing clinical support."
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