When they hear the word “prevention”, most people think of general health recommendations. “Quit smoking” or “make sure you exercise enough”. This kind of advice often has little effect, and it is also unclear how it could be helpful to the person hearing it. For this reason, the word prevention often has a somewhat abstract, idealistic connotation, and policy-makers and administrators also tend to think of it as useless and expensive.
At its basis, however, prevention is about improving health, or, in other words, preventing disease. But it also plays a role in inhibiting disease symptoms and improving treatment outcomes. Which is precisely what we do at Fit4Surgery.
Fit4Surgery is a programme for patients waiting for an operation, for example for intestinal cancer or brain tumours. In Fit4Surgery, the period preceding the operation, which is usually simply a time of waiting, is optimally put to use to bring the patient into the best shape possible. It is an intensive fully supervised programme. Patients follow a physical training programme, their nutrition is improved, there is attention for their mental condition, and they are offered help to quit drinking and smoking. As the patients’ overall health improves dramatically within a short time, they are better equipped to face the big operation, which is often compared to running a marathon. That is also something that requires prior training.
We see that patients who completed the Fit4Surgery programme recover more quickly and are less likely to develop complications. They have a better quality of life and are able to start with any additional therapy more quickly, leading to overall better results for the cancer treatment. In short, improving the patients’ health prior to the operation leads to better treatment outcomes!
I believe that improving health should be an integral part of disease treatment. Whether we call it prevention, or lifestyle medicine, the time has come for our healthcare system to not only focus on treating disease, but also, and primarily, on promoting health.