Virtual Group Prehabilitation Education (Surgery School) Feasibility Trial

Feasibility Testing and Process Evaluation of a Virtual Group Preoperative Prehabilitation Education Intervention (GoPREPARE)

One in four patients requiring planned major surgery have complications. Prehabilitation; which involves increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and supporting emotional well-being prior to surgery can reduce these complications and improve recovery. Group preoperative prehabilitation classes (surgery schools) are advocated by the Centre for Perioperative Care and are standard care in many hospitals, despite a lack of evidence for their effectiveness in improving patient outcomes. In phase 1 an 2 of this research investigators used patient experiences and co-participatory methods to optimise an existing intervention to make it as acceptable and as engaging as possible. The resulting education package is called 'GoPREPARE'

Investigators now intend to test the practicalities of trialing GoPREPARE on preoperative patients with cancer. 24 patients awaiting surgery will be recruited from University Hospital Plymouth and randomly allocated equally to: Group - GoPREPARE and Group 2- standard care. Participants will complete lifestyle questionnaires before during and after their hospital stay. To evaluate the experience, ~8 participants will be interviewed. 5 clinical staff involved in the trial will also take part in a focus group. The information collected will be analysed to assess if it is feasible to conduct a larger trial.

See uploaded protocol

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults undergoing elective surgery for any body cavity cancer with curative intent.
• Adults with more than 3 weeks before planned surgery
• Adults without previous experience of prehabilitation.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children
• Adults who lack mental capacity.
• Adults who do not understand spoken English.
• Previous experience of prehabilitation.
• Previous surgery for cancer
• Pregnancy