Rehabilitation consideration in pediatric cancer survivors

Abstract

Although the need for rehabilitation services for cancer patients has been known for decades, many individuals with cancer still do not receive appropriate rehabilitation therapies during the course of their care. This has become particularly important for survivors of childhood cancer. As improvements have been made in treatment and mortality rates are decreasing, there are more survivors living with the long term or "late effects" of the cancer and its treatments. Late effects often impact the central nervous system and can impact skills such as mobility, activities of daily living, general physical activity, swallowing, speech production, and cognitive functioning. The focus of this chapter will be on introducing the need for rehabilitation services in this population, a review of some of the common issues that impact physical and speech-language functioning, and tips for when professionals may consider a referral for physical, occupational, or speech-language therapies.