Journey through rehab - Dr Peter Wright
Thursday, 15 August 2019
Simon's long journey through rehab, by Dr Peter Wright - Programme Lead: Sport & Coaching Sciences
The story of Simon and how he
fought cancer is quite amazing and that he is with us today is close to a
miracle. Most of this is due to his fighter personality – he will never give
up. Today he regularly visits the sport centre and is a Brookes Sports ambassador,
he gives talks to students on our “clinical populations and rehabilitation”
module and others and occasionally even advises on research projects around the
topic of cancer and rehab. In short, it is quite amazing how his relationship
with Brookes has developed and there is much more to come.
In October, he is planning to climb
the roof of the O2 Arena and I sometimes wonder why he could not have chosen an
easier task? Then I have to remind myself that this is Simon I am dealing with
and nothing is impossible. Thus, we decided to create a student experience
project around it and raise awareness for the lack of rehab/exercise provision
for cancer survivors, which frequently leads to preventable secondary cancers
that are too often fatal.
Simon is a prime example of someone
who was hit by cancer and once discharged from hospital fell through the
network of social security and support in terms of long-term rehabilitation.
Unfortunately, the UK is one of the countries in Europe with the least
developed rehabilitation systems. In most European countries, rehabilitation is
centrally funded and enables patients to structured exercise interventions for
any health condition for many months or even years without having to pay a
penny or cent as it were. In addition to this, in countries like Germany or
Scandinavian countries this long-term rehabilitation system leads seamlessly
into secondary prevention schemes, which again are free of charge and ensure a
long-term health benefit and possible lifestyle change. This in return
minimizes medical follow up costs and potential relapses and hospital stays.
Germany for instance has approx. 1,500 specialised rehabilitation hospitals and
community based rehab clinics that offer a structured exercise, nutrition and
psychological interventions without any waiting lists as part of a holistic
rehabilitation process that can take up to two years followed by secondary
prevention schemes.
Rehabilitation intervention is
essential in helping to address the impact of:
- physical or movement problems
- sensory problems
- cognitive or behavioural problems
- communication problems
- psychosocial and emotional problems
- medically unexplained symptoms
- mental health conditions
However, the system described above
was not available to Simon and he had to help himself and that is where Oxford
Brookes University came into the equation. The Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning
group (OCCG) does not even fund GP exercise referral schemes currently, which
is a very basic form of exercise provision for people with risk factors and/or
a history of health problems. This situation is additionally aggravated by the
lack of knowledge of health professionals about the effects and very strong
evidence of the benefits of exercise.
If it had not been for Simon’s
perseverance, I would have never met him and he probably would have been stuck
in the system without any long-term rehabilitation. Initially we started his
exercise therapy sessions as an opportunity for students to shadow a community
based rehabilitation programme. His general constitution has improved so
dramatically that he now walks around 10,000 steps on most days of the week.
The exercise therapy sessions at Brookes Sport have turned into training
sessions and with a few modifications, Simon can do most exercises. We still
have a long way to go and there is always room for improvement, but with
Simon’s determination and a little bit of support from Brookes staff and
students I am confident that he will not only climb the roof of the O2 arena,
but will also be able to return to work after his long journey through
rehabilitation.