For individuals with cancer, the disease and treatment can result in impairments that limit physical, psychosocial, and cognitive functioning, interfering with patients’ quality of life and ability to perform work-related functions.
Clinical trials published since 1983 have demonstrated that supervised exercise training prescribed during and/or after the completion of cancer treatments, is safe and can counteract treatment-related side effects, and elicit many other physiological, functional, and psychological benefits.
There are currently limited supportive care programs and services available for cancer patients and survivors in Australia, with recent research indicating that less than 1% of patients with cancer are currently accessing comprehensive, multidisciplinary rehabilitation program within hospitals. Further, the few existing programs rely largely on face-to-face delivery of services, reducing options for those who may be unable to attend due to location or time constraints. A large component of these programs is exercise therapy.
Clearly defined, integrated and patient-centered models of care will be required to deliver exercise services to a growing number of cancer patients; otherwise, such services may continue to remain peripheral to standard care and underutilised. Delivery and availability of exercise oncology services enabled by digital technology may offer considerable potential for improved reach, cost savings and improved health outcomes. Such services can be broadly characterised under Shaw et al’s conceptual model, consisting of three core domains:
(1) Health in our hands: using digital technologies to monitor, track, and inform health, e.g. smartphones, tablets, clinical devices, mobile sensors and wearables, Apps, social media, and online information.
(2) Interacting for health: using digital technologies to enable health communication among practitioners and between health professionals and clients or patients, e.g. traditionally dominated by teleconferencing and videoconferencing, this domain increasingly includes a range of synchronous and asynchronous tools, such as SMS and push notifications from mobile applications, dedicated portals, social media platforms, and virtual or simulated therapy tools.
(3) Data enabling health: collecting, managing, and using digital health data, e.g. technologies that provided expanded knowledge and insights about the health and wellness of an individual, community, or population.