Center for Surgery in Older Adults Receives Funding for PrehabPal: Digitally Enhanced Coaching to Prepare the Mind and Body for Cancer Surgery

The UCSF Center for Surgery in Older Adults is pleased to announce that we have been awarded funding from the UCSF Integrative Oncology Collaborative (IOC) for our pilot project: "PrehabPal: Digitally Enhanced Coaching to Prepare the Mind and Body for Cancer Surgery." The principal investigator on the study is Emily Finlayson MD, MS, Professor of Surgery, Medicine, and Health Policy, and Director of the Center for Surgery in Older Adults.

A key component of the project is the web app "PrehabPal". Marrying high tech with high touch coaching from the patient support corps, PrehabPal evaluates vulnerabilities and helps guide older adults as they prepare their minds and bodies for cancer surgery. Prehabilitation is forecast to play an increasingly important role as the number of elderly in the U.S. and worldwide rise dramatically, potentially saving healthcare systems millions of dollars annually.