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Patients who undergo cancer treatments can experience side-effects including reduced fitness, muscle weakness, fatigue, depression, anxiety, which negatively impact survivorship. There is strong scientific evidence that exercise can positively impact many cancers specific side-effects, and physical and mental wellbeing. We need to ensure that every patient with a cancer diagnosis has access to exercise and cancer rehabilitation throughout their cancer journey. We need to do this in a way that considers the resources that we have available to us in both the hospital and the community, and refer people to appropriate services based on their own individual needs.

PERCS stands for Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation in Cancer Survivorship. The PERCS research programme commenced in 2021 with a project funded by the Irish Cancer Society and National Cancer Control Programme which investigated the real-world application of an exercise triage and referral system, supported by an online repository of exercise rehabilitation tools and social prescribing resources specific to Ireland, on physical and psychosocial outcomes in cancer survivors treated during the coronavirus pandemic. The PERCS team, led by Principal Investigator Dr Emer Guinan, Clinical Leads Dr Claire Donohoe and Dr Grainne Sheill and Project Manager Dr Louise Brennan, includes experts in physiotherapy, health psychology, occupational therapy, and dietetics, and patient representatives from the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute Patient Representative Group.

In 2024, the PERCS programme received further funding from the Health Research Board to examine how we can a triage and referral model like PERCS could be implemented across Ireland. Implementation scientist Dr Elaine Toomey, health economist Dr Dominic Trépel and National Lead for Cancer Survivorship Louise Mullen join the PERCS team to deliver PERCS 2.0.  Results to date have demonstrated the positive impact that just one physiotherapy triage assessment and referral has on multiple patient outcomes.

To find out more about PERCS and for more information about the role of exercise and rehabilitation in cancer care visit www.cancerrehabiliation.ie. This website was developed by the PERCS team in consultation with patients from across Ireland.