Work adjustment of cancer survivors: An organisational support framework

Abstract

Medical advancements increase incidents of cancer survivors returning to work. Work adjustment of cancer survivors is essential for job satisfaction and productivity and should be supported and facilitated by the organisation. Research purpose:The purpose of the study was to explore cancer survivors' return to work experience in order to explicate organisational support needed to facilitate their successful work adjustment.Motivation for the study: Despite the growing awareness of cancer survivorship, the challenges, expectations and management of the return to work process remain under researched.Research approach, design and method: Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology formed the methodological foundation to the study. Purposive sampling was used to select eight participants from an oncology unit and cancer support organisation in the Southern Cape and Little Karoo regions. Participants, diagnosed with various types of cancer, were regarded as cancer survivors as they completed treatment and have returned to work. Data were collected using unstructured interviews and analysed through thematic analysis based on Ricoeur's hermeneutic phenomenological theory of interpretation.Main findings: Results highlight four themes representing cancer survivors' needs for organisational support. The support needs are presented in the context of the theory of work adjustment in a hierarchical schema that evolves from a basic need for emotion-focussed support to the need for knowledge and for practical guidance. Support needs culminate in the need for self-actualisation through meaning-making. An organisational support framework is proposed consisting of four integrated functions aimed at addressing the needs that emerged from the data. Practical and managerial implications:The organisational support framework provides guidance to develop an organisational policy and intervention strategy aimed at managing the successful work adjustment of the cancer survivor. Contribution or value-add:The study presents original research, contributing to the body of knowledge regarding cancer survivors returning to work, and introduces a new area of research in the discipline of industrial and organisational psychology.

Supporting employers to enhance the return to work of cancer survivors: development of a web-based intervention (MiLES intervention)

“…Also, an employer's lack of knowledge of cancer and inadequate communication skills, as well as inflexible national and organizational policies, might prevent the employer from giving appropriate RTW support to the cancer survivor [17,18]. Several studies therefore recommend providing employers with guidelines and other supportive interventions to enhance the RTW of cancer survivors [2,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. As there was a lack of scientifically sound interventions targeting employerswhich might well be the missing link in efforts to optimize the work participation of cancer survivors [16,21] we developed one, namely, the MiLES ("the Missing Link: optimizing the return to work of Employees diagnosed with cancer, by Supporting employers") intervention.…”

A systematic review of work-related interventions for breast cancer survivors: Potential contribution of occupational therapists

“…Evidence has shown that the worker role itself could be rehabilitative as work provides a sense of normality, identity, contact with social support structures [9,11], and work-related activities itself could be inherently rehabilitative in maintaining and/or improving functional performance [15]. A study conducted by Mahar and colleagues [55] showed that with continuous employment, the reported levels of anxiety, depression, somatization, and general distress of female cancer survivors could be reduced, as well as their quality of life improved, when compared to women who were not working.…”

“…This leads to poor communication, little managerial proficiency, and insufficient support for work-related transitions [13]. The inadequate organisational understanding underscores the need for advice on how to manage cancer survivors in the workplace [14,15]. Breast cancer survivors also experience a lack of work schedule flexibility and support by health care workers to assist them with the transition back into the work environment [16].…”

Person–environment fit.

“…Researchers have examined correspondence between individuals' personality styles and their work environments in terms of celerity, pace, rhythm, and endurance and the role and type of adjustment behaviors used to maintain satisfactoriness (Bayl-Smith & Griffin, 2018). TWA has also been used as a framework for conceptualizing work-related decisions, such as work adjustment among cancer survivors (Clur et al, 2017) and women leaving the engineering field (Fouad et al, 2017), and has been combined with other theoretical approaches, such as attachment theory in predicting turnover intentions (Dahling & Librizzi, 2015), social cognitive career theory in predicting satisfaction of retirement-age workers (Foley & Lytle, 2015), Maslow's theory and the psychology of working theory (Blustein et al, 2019) in describing experiences of Latinx immigrant workers (Eggerth & Flynn, 2012), and organizational support theory in predicting work outcomes and mental health among women of color (Kurtessis et al, 2017). Additionally, TWA has served as the basis for a retirement transition and adjustment framework (RTAF; Griffin, 2015;Hesketh et al, 2011Hesketh et al, , 2015.…”