In this episode of the Rehabilitation Oncology Podcast, Drs. Jill Mayer and Kayleigh Plumeau discuss the impact of weekly phone calls, made by a physical therapist, on outcomes (e.g., physical function, quality of life, fatigue) and home exercise program adherence for survivors of cancer early in their recovery.

Host Dr. Steve Morris speaks with study lead investigator Helen Mackie about her important findings related to compensatory lymphatic drainage in lower extremity lymphedema, particularly among those with a history of cancer. The findings of this study suggest support for manual lymph drainage to move lymph to the contralateral inguinal drainage region.

Joy Cohn, PT, provides insights into the newest APTA Oncology clinical practice guideline for screening and assessing cancer-related fatigue. Valuable information on which tools are best to use and how to implement the clinical practice guideline are discussed with podcast host, Dr. Stephen Morris.

Dr. Lisa Wood Magee and Dr. Stephen Wechsler present exciting findings about how cancer-related fatigue can result in physical impairments among those treated for cancer, and the need to address this through exercise aimed at large muscle groups of the lower extremity.

Dr. Mary Hidde discusses the role of high intensity interval training for reducing cancer-related fatigue with an emphasis on moving evidence into clinical practice.

In this Rehabilitation Oncology Podcast episode, Dr. Steve Morris interviews author and researcher Dr. Nicole Stout about oncology physical therapy specialty practice. Dr. Stout outlines the expectations for future clinical specialists and presents a call to action to the rehabilitation team to utilize oncology clinical specialists beyond clinical roles to expand their influence on providing best practice care to the individual with cancer.

Podcast Editor Dr. Stephen Morris leads a discussion with Dr. Patricia Bamonti about her work investigating the role depression plays in moderating physical functional levels among individuals diagnosed with cancer. The discrepancy between self-reported physical function and objective physical performance measures is also discussed. The authors conclude that it is essential that individuals with cancer need comprehensive assessment of physical function in addition to depression symptoms.

Dr. Mackenzi Pergolotti answers questions posed by Podcast Editor Dr. Stephen Morris about her work examining the effect of community-based rehabilitation on patient-reported outcomes and physical functioning. This work highlights the importance of cancer rehabilitation for those treated for cancer, and how rehabilitation improves function and overall health-related quality of life. The authors suggest that collaboration between outpatient facilities and academic cancer centers can provide opportunities to address gaps in the evidence base as well as address unmet cancer rehabilitation needs.

This episode features a discussion between the authors and Rehabilitation Oncology highlighting the importance of moving evidence into clinical practice through implementation science frameworks. The Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) and Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) provide guidance on how clinicians can make changes in practice that reflect the evidence database.

This episode discusses a quasi-experimental repeated pre-post design to evaluate attitudes, awareness and behaviors of nursing and physical therapy students during a simulated end of Life experience.