Virtual sports program for young people with cancer with prominent support

Young people who were prevented from doing sports due to cancer, therapy and not least the corona pandemic have been taking part in a varied virtual sports program at the Stuttgart Cancer Center - Eva Mayr-Stihl Tumor Center at the Stuttgart Clinic since this week. PD Dr. Claudia Blattmann is the acting head of the Clinic for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Stuttgart Clinic. She explains: “We have made great strides in the treatment of cancer in recent years, especially in children. The chances of recovery have risen steadily, with leukemia they are around 80 percent. Nevertheless, the side effects of the therapy often affect adolescents strongly. ”Claudia Blattmann knows that adolescents often feel exhausted and depressed during and after the therapy. “It is difficult for them to get moving on their own initiative. Rehabilitative sports therapy is of great importance as part of cancer treatment to avoid long-term damage. "

This is where the new virtual sports program comes in, which is based on an idea by SG Stern Deutschland e.V. - and focuses on motivation and fun. The program was worked out together with the social pedagogue Manuel Schlösser (Children's Clinic Tübingen), the sports scientist Cornelia Schatton from the Eva Mayr-Stihl Tumor Center at the Stuttgart Clinic and the Feuerbach 1883 eV sports association Trainers, selected sports videos and training challenges. Blattmann: “The aim is not only to provide the adolescents and young adults with an adapted sports program, but also to give them the opportunity to make contacts during the pandemic and to tackle a task together as a team. "

Via a community platform, the participants can exchange ideas at any time, show their training successes and contact the trainers if they have any questions. The young athletes are supported by celebrities such as Manuel Neuer, soccer goalkeeper and team captain of the German national team and FC Bayern Munich, Kai Bayer, Bundesliga player e-sports from Hertha BSC, Sarah Neubrander, former handball player in the 2nd Bundesliga, Sasa Kalajdzic, Player at VfB Stuttgart, and others.

Stuttgart Clinic

The Stuttgart Clinic includes the Katharinenhospital, the Bad Cannstatt Hospital and Germany's largest children's clinic, the Olgahospital. 7,000 employees, including 2,700 nurses and over 1,000 doctors, care for around 90,000 inpatients and more than 600,000 outpatients each year, including 100,000 emergencies. Over 3,600 births and more than 53,000 operations are cared for every year at the Stuttgart Clinic. The Stuttgart Clinic plays a prominent role in the pandemic. The intensive capacity was greatly expanded, an emergency reserve capacity was created, hundreds of thousands of PCR tests were carried out and the vaccination center was set up in the Liederhalle, where the first vaccination against COVID took place in Baden-Württemberg. Since then, around 200,000 vaccinations (as of April 18) have been made.

Kontact: Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, Klinikum Stuttgart, Corporate Communications,
Stefan Möbius, Tel.: +49 711 278-32146, E-Mail: s.moebius@klinikum-stuttgart.de