TELEX Liver Cancer Telehealth

Our Professor of Liver Cancer - Helen Reeves, alongside physio Dr Kate Hallsworth and Sports Scientist Dr Sam Orange, have just won £49,000 from the Newcastle Biomedical Research Council, for a pilot study to start this summer! We all know that exercise is 'good for us'. There is mounting evidence though, that it can be very benecial for patients with cancer. This can be in improving quality of life, but also tness and survival. Delivering exercise around our region can be challenging though, to people with liver disease, worried about having liver cancer, with varying levels of tness and condence, as well as variable access to facilities. Helen, Kate and Sam plan to identify 20 patients who are in remission after liver cancer treatment, who are willing to help explore 'Telehealth' – meaning computer supervised exercise from home. We will provide simple exercise equipment, a 'tablet' pre-loaded with wi access and 'Zoom' software, and deliver a one-to-one induction over the internet, followed by twice weekly exercise classes supervised by Kate or Sam. The exercise will be tailored to individuals, with a chair based as well as a standing option. We want to see if it is feasible, what works well and what does not – so that moving forward, we can move towards big changes in NHS care – hopefully bringing Telehealth to the forefront for our patients with liver disease and cancer.

We will keep you posted!

Helen Reeves

Our leaflet no. 21 on Exercise and Osteoporosis in Liver Patients also contains some excellent advice from Kate & her colleagues - well worth a read (Ed).