New charity-funded research project aims to help cancer patients keep active at Sheffield Children’s

The project, funded by over £10,000 worth of donations to Sheffield’s Children’s Hospital Charity, will see belts known as Actigraph accelerometers worn around the waists of different age groups of children undergoing treatment.

The devices will collect data on how much physical activity cancer patients in hospital and at home are doing.

Led by Debbie Rowley, an advanced physiotherapist for oncology and neurology, it is hoped the findings will lead to the development of national guidance on the inclusion of physical activity in cancer treatment.

Despite emerging research about the potential benefits of physical activity during treatment, keeping active is not yet a routine part of care for children with cancer.

Debbie said: “Even in planned stages of chemotherapy, anecdotally children are still moving less than their counterparts. Early research has also shown that even decades after successfully completing treatment, cancer survivors are moving less.”

The cause for the decline in activity remains unclear, with the physical or psychological side-effects of diagnosis and treatment suggested as potential explanations. Advice on physical activity from healthcare professionals is also given on an ad-hoc basis and is not consistent nationally.

Debbie continued: “This research could form the basis to incorporate physical activity into cancer treatment and eventually to put in place national guidance. Put simply, until we can show how active or inactive children are during their treatment, we can’t time and focus interventions.

“As more children thankfully survive cancer, it’s important that we also focus on improving their quality of life after treatment. It will be something that requires the engagement of staff, parents and patients and for that we need to develop the evidence through research.”

The need to improve physical activity in those undergoing treatment have been long recognised at Sheffield Children’s. Every year, staff host the ‘Do It For You’ day for children and young people who have previously received treatment for cancer or a bone marrow transplant.

Developed jointly by the Haematology and Oncology department and Access Sport at the University of Sheffield, the fun, family-centered activity day was established in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympics.

It has since become a regular annual event at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EISS) and has been supported by The Children’s Hospital Charity with more than £6,200 of funding.

Staff from Sheffield Children’s and student volunteers from The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University are on hand to encourage participation, with sporting activities ranging from football to cycling, rowing, archery, wheelchair basketball, dancing and a climbing wall.

The day allows patients to participate in sport and activities in a safe and supportive environment. Over 60 families attended in 2019 and for the first time three patients who were being treated on the ward joined the event with their families after clinicians deemed it safe to do so.

Parents, children, volunteers and mascots alike took part in the fun races, with The Children’s Hospital Charity’s mascot Theo Bear excelling around the track!

Debbie continued: “The Do It For You Day is so uplifting. We’ve seen families get so much out of it over the years and countless youngsters regain their confidence, going onto continue the activities with family and friends closer to home.”

Donations to The Children’s Hospital Charity fund up to £250,000 of research projects every year to ensure future generations receive the very best healthcare, through better diagnosis and treatment.

Debbie added: “Being able to have the funding from The Children’s Hospital Charity means an awful lot to me personally too. I’m a novice researcher and I hope to soon start a pre-doctoral fellowship.

“There is simply no way that I could have gone into this academic role and continued my day job helping patients without that support from the Charity. It also means that I can use that invaluable hands-on experience through my work at Sheffield Children’s to inform research and hopefully help children further afield.”

If you would like to donate to support the patients and staff at Sheffield Children’s Hospital at this unprecedented time, text SHEFFCHILDRENS to 70085 to donate £5. This costs £5 plus your standard message rate. You can also call 0114 321 2470 or visit www.tchc.org.uk/donate

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