Outpatient oncological rehabilitation

Every year, around 41,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Switzerland. At the Haut-Valais Hospital Centre, some 650 new cases of cancer are treated each year, and the trend is rising.

Thanks to significant advances in early detection and medical treatments, there has been an increase in the number of long-term cancer survivors. Cancer has thus increasingly become a chronic condition, whilst at the same time posing new challenges in terms of the follow-up care and rehabilitation of those affected.

Physical, psychological and social difficulties—such as pain, functional limitations, concentration problems, chronic fatigue, anxiety, etc.—which may arise as a result of cancer or its treatments, must be alleviated through appropriate outpatient rehabilitation measures, in order to facilitate acceptance of the illness.
The aim is to restore physical, psychological and social well-being, so that the individual can lead their life independently, with the greatest possible autonomy, whilst participating in professional and social life. It is also about learning to live independently despite any limitations.

A multidisciplinary approach

The organisation of outpatient cancer rehabilitation at the SZO is based on a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach.

A core team, led by a doctor, assesses the individual needs and resources of people affected by cancer and, on this basis, draws up a treatment programme of limited duration:

  • Physiotherapy programme (kinesitherapy and sports therapy, as well as individual physiotherapy)
  • Yoga therapy
  • Psycho-oncology
  • Nutritional advice
  • Social counselling from the Cancer League