Lay summary
This research focuses on the journey of patients with inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer undergoing elective colorectal surgery. There are four broad objectives: 1) to develop and evaluate a colorectal pre-surgery nutrition screening pathway to identify patients needing nutrition care; 2) to understand dietary fibre intake during bowel cancer chemoradiotherapy treatment prior to bowel surgery and any impact on radiotherapy outcomes; 3) to investigate the acceptability and impact of nutritional therapies on markers of inflammation before and after bowel surgery to manage Crohn’s disease; and 4) to understand the severity of post-bowel cancer treatment fatigue and explore biomarkers of metabolic processes implicated in chronic disease-related fatigue. Together these projects aim to improve equity of access to nutrition information and treatments, which will improve surgical outcomes and patient quality of life. The research findings will inform changes to clinical practice and significantly reduce healthcare service costs.