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Strategies to support cancer survivors at work: content analysis of cancer survivor, healthcare provider, and employer perspectives

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Abstract

Purpose

To (1) describe the challenges identified by cancer survivors, healthcare providers, and employers related to work maintenance and optimization during and after cancer treatment and (2) identify strategies that can address those challenges.

Methods

We conducted content analysis of semi-structured interview data collected from cancer survivors, healthcare providers, and employers regarding workplace challenges that cancer survivors face and strategies to address them. Challenges and strategies were summarized according to whether they related to the cancer survivor, the work demands, or the work environment.

Results

Forty-five total participants identified challenges and strategies primarily related to the cancer survivor’s signs and symptoms of treatment. Healthcare providers (n = 17) focused primarily on challenges and strategies related to the cancer survivor, while employers (n = 5) focused on the work environment—especially policies and procedures that facilitate time off work and the importance of bidirectional communication between cancer survivors and employers. Cancer survivors (n = 23) identified challenges and suggestions in all three categories, though they uniquely focused on challenges relating to work demands and adjustments to those demands that would facilitate employment maintenance.

Conclusions

Efforts to address the many challenges that cancer survivors experience at work should include the views of cancer survivors, healthcare providers, and employers reflecting their respective domains of expertise in work demands, cancer survivors’ medical care, and the work environment.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Survivors and healthcare providers are able to address many side effects that can create work challenges, but improved collaboration between survivors and employers may identify ways to modify work demands and environments to maximize employment maintenance.

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Data availability

The de-identified qualitative datasets used in the analysis are available from the last author (KDL) on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate Cassandra M. Godzik’s contribution to data collection and initial analysis.

Funding

The authors acknowledge research support from Friends of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth and its NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) P30 CA023108.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Health, School of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Rachel C. Forcino

  2. Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Kali J. Morrissette

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Courtney J. Stevens, Jonathan D. Lichtenstein & Sivan Rotenberg

  4. The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Jonathan D. Lichtenstein

  5. Dartmouth Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Jenna E. Schiffelbein

  6. Occupational Therapy Department, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Deirdre Connolly

  7. Occupational Therapy Department, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA, USA

    Kathleen Doyle Lyons

Authors
  1. Rachel C. Forcino
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Contributions

JDL, JES, SR, and KDL contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by RCF, CJS, KJM, and KDL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RCF and KDL and all authors reviewed and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel C. Forcino.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Institutional Review Boards of Massachusetts General Hospital (study 2021P002762) and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (study 02000975).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was granted by all individual participants.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

RCF was affiliated with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Dartmouth College at the time of the study.

Kali J. Morrissette and Kathleen Doyle Lyons were affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center at the time of the study.

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Forcino, R.C., Morrissette, K.J., Stevens, C.J. et al. Strategies to support cancer survivors at work: content analysis of cancer survivor, healthcare provider, and employer perspectives. J Cancer Surviv (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-024-01539-w

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