According to experts, rehabilitation in oncology is a fairly new thing, since only in the past 20 years it has become clear that it is needed. “Rehabilitation should begin from the time when the patient is told bad news,” says Tatiana Semiglazova, head of the scientific department, leading researcher of the scientific department of innovative methods of therapeutic oncology and rehabilitation of the N. N. Petrov National Medicine Research Center of Oncology.

There are many problems in MR today: there is no unified system of institutions providing assistance during rehabilitation in oncology; there are no rehabilitation departments in most inpatient oncology institutions, and continuity in activities at various stages has not been developed.

“Yes, rehabilitation increases the cost of treatment, but at the same time it reduces pain and discomfort, weakness and malaise, and provides a significant psychological effect,” explains Elena Melnikova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, chief external expert in medical rehabilitation of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

She also emphasizes, that when organizing medical rehabilitation of patients with oncology, not a single doctor should work, but a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team (MRT) consisting of a rehabilitation doctor, a clinical psychologist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist and a rehabilitation nurse, and ideally, also a social worker.

“Thus, new specialists have been included in the medical team nowadays: a medical speech therapist, a medical psychologist, a physical rehabilitation specialist (kinesiospecialist) and an ergorehabilitation specialist (ergo-specialist). Now these are all-rightful participants in the treatment process,” says Elena Melnikova.

As the expert explains, only by taking into account the opinions of various specialists can one obtain a holistic picture of the disease and data for the optimal solution of problems, because each of them has their own set of tools, each of them is responsible for their own area of knowledge.

The new structure – an early rehabilitation department – should be deployed in the hospital. Today, as experts explain, it is important to build a rehabilitation cycle aimed at preparing the patient for the life he can lead after illness. “If a violinist can no longer play the violin, he can write music,” says Tatiana Semiglazova.

“The state is no longer willing to pay for the process – only for the result! Therefore, it is very important for the MRT to monitor the achievement of the goal and discuss the result of rehabilitation, which makes it effective due to feedback,” emphasizes Elena Melnikova.

Along with personnel training, the issue of accessibility of rehabilitation needs to be addressed.

Irina Kargalskaya, executive director of the Association of Oncology Rehabilitation Specialists, spoke on a new direction in restorative medicine, which is telerehabilitation, which allows you to restore lost functions and skills and continue the process of treating patients at home after discharge from the hospital.

“Over 9 months, 33 thousand consultations in the oncology industry were provided using telemedicine. During rehabilitation at home, television technologies can be used, such as, for example, clinical-psychological counseling, clinical-psychological correction, physical therapy,” she says, adding that such physical therapy groups very often turn into psychological support groups.

Since modern medicine is aimed at a patient-oriented approach, Anna Malkova, head of the information and service department of the N. N. Petrov National Medicine Research Center of Oncology, spoke on effective communication between communities of doctors and patients. 

“To streamline work and for better interaction between doctors and patients, we created a medical information system, a medical registrar training program, and updated the entire process of receiving and managing patients,” says Anna Malkova. This has significantly improved the work of the institution. The number of calls processed in 2015 was 36,364, and in 2022 it became 714,100, while the number of telemedicine consultations increased from 58 in 2018 to 6,685 in 2022. The registration capacity increased from 41,950 patients in 2015 to 78,371 in 2022, and the waiting time in line at the registration decreased from 80 to 20 minutes. “We tell the patients with all our voices that they are not alone, that they will definitely receive help and support,” says Anna Malkova.

“The main goal of rehabilitation in oncology is to improve the quality of life of cancer patients; and modern capabilities make it possible to do this as best as possible,” concludes Tatiana Semiglazova.

The conference is one of QuantoriUM's Young Medicine events. QuantoriUM Young Medicine takes place from October 4 to 6 as part of the XI St. Petersburg International Health Forum. The organizer of QuantoriUM is the ANO SoBytie with the support of the Committee on Youth Policy and Interaction with Public Organizations.