Patients who finish their treatments & are cancer-free receive a cancer survivorship care plan. This plan helps patients navigate what comes after treatment & for the rest of their lives. But what’s an often missing & crucial part of this plan? Cancer rehab!
Scott Capozza & his team at Smilow Cancer Hospital Survivorship Clinic are rewriting these plans to care for patients more wholly & holistically. In the process, they’re also educating pros like us to start doing this in our own backyards. And yes, yes we can!
Scott Capozza, PT, MSPT earned his degree from Ithaca College. He has been the physical therapist for the Smilow Cancer Hospital Survivorship Clinic at Yale Cancer Center since its inception in 2006. In this setting, he works in unison with a dietitian, social worker and physician assistant to address the concerns of adult cancer survivors as they transition into long term survivorship. Through this collaborative team approach, common survivorship themes such as cancer-related fatigue and fear of recurrence are addressed. Scott also works as Yale New Haven Hospital’s first dedicated outpatient physical therapist in oncology rehabilitation. Scott is among the first class of board-certified clinical specialists in oncologic physical therapy in the country and serves on several national committees within the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Oncologic Physical Therapy. He has presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Cancer Survivorship Symposium on the benefits of oncology rehabilitation and exercise for all cancer survivors. Scott & his team most recently presented at CSM 2020 on his facility’s survivorship model, which is part of what we’re talking about today!