Logo close icon

Middlesex academic joins BETTER cancer recovery project

10/09/2014
Dr Kevin Corbett from Middlesex will join a new project to help patients recover their physical abilities after cancer surgery.

Kevin Corbett BETTER projectCorbett, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing in the School of Health and Education, will join the 'BETTER' (Basic Exercise Training to Enhance Recovery) project, which includes researchers from the Department of Surgery at Maidstone Hospital, Department of Physiotherapy at Kent and Canterbury Hospital and the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent. This team of researchers will be led by Dr Ian Swaine, Reader in the School of Human and Life Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University. Members of the research group specialise in diverse topics such as surgery, physiotherapy, nursing, health studies and exercise science.

The project has been awarded £340,000 from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). It's the first project of its kind to focus on the debilitating problems associated with loss of physical strength related to the after-effects of stomach and chest surgery for cancer. This type of surgery can lead people to have difficulty going about their normal daily life, including activities such as getting dressed or sitting upright. The aim of the project is to help patients regain their physical ability through the development of an innovative exercise programme. 

The project is a feasibility study that will start this autumn and run for three years. It will be hosted by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, focusing on a small number of patients based mainly at Maidstone Hospital. If it is found to be successful, it could lead to a full-scale multi-centre randomised clinical trial with a view to it being implemented across the country, within the NHS.

Dr Kevin Corbett commented: "I am very excited about contributing methodological expertise to this research study which aims to positively impact on Kent patients and their experience of recovery from surgery as well as impacting on future NHS practice."

Dr Kevin Corbett from Middlesex will join a new project to help patients recover their physical abilities after cancer surgery. Kevin Corbett BETTER project

Corbett, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing in the School of Health and Education, will join the 'BETTER' (Basic Exercise Training to Enhance Recovery) project, which includes researchers from the Department of Surgery at Maidstone Hospital, Department of Physiotherapy at Kent and Canterbury Hospital and the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent. This team of researchers will be led by Dr Ian Swaine, Reader in the School of Human and Life Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University. Members of the research group specialise in diverse topics such as surgery, physiotherapy, nursing, health studies and exercise science.

The project has been awarded £340,000 from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). It's the first project of its kind to focus on the debilitating problems associated with loss of physical strength related to the after-effects of stomach and chest surgery for cancer. This type of surgery can lead people to have difficulty going about their normal daily life, including activities such as getting dressed or sitting upright. The aim of the project is to help patients regain their physical ability through the development of an innovative exercise programme. 

The project is a feasibility study that will start this autumn and run for three years. It will be hosted by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, focusing on a small number of patients based mainly at Maidstone Hospital. If it is found to be successful, it could lead to a full-scale multi-centre randomised clinical trial with a view to it being implemented across the country, within the NHS.

Dr Kevin Corbett commented: "I am very excited about contributing methodological expertise to this research study which aims to positively impact on Kent patients and their experience of recovery from surgery as well as impacting on future NHS practice."

In this section

Back to top