Occupational health can make “a monumental difference” to the wellbeing of patients with cancer, SOM (the Society of Occupational Medicine) has said ahead of World Cancer Day tomorrow (4 February).
In a letter to OHW+, SOM chief executive Nick Pahl highlighted that many people with cancer are grappling with the disease at the same time as navigating their employment situation, including increasingly returning to work after a cancer diagnosis as treatments and drugs improve.
The theme of World Cancer Day this year is to ‘Close the Care Gap’, including a focus on ensuring more people seek and receive the care they need and deserve.
But cancer can of course have a broader impact on people’s lives, including worries about money, mental health, the future, and life expectancy.
“Depending on circumstances, continuing or returning to work can often give people with cancer an important sense of self-worth and can play a key role in terms of everyday normality, routine and socialising, but it is crucial that this is done in a way that best supports the needs of the individual,” said Pahl.
“Occupational health can make a monumental difference to the wellbeing of cancer patients in the workplace, with specialist advice in terms of workplace adjustments or returning to work.
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“It’s up to individual employers to decide what, if any, occupational health services they offer, so this World Cancer Day we are encouraging all organisations to look at their workplace support for people with cancer and to incorporate that into their occupational health strategies,” Pahl added.
His comments have come as research, also published to coincide with World Cancer Day, has suggested that as many as 71% of UK workers with cancer fear telling their colleagues about their diagnosis.
Fear of stigma and job loss
The poll of 2,459 people for marketing company Publicis Groupe UK found nearly half (48%) of those who fear telling colleagues about their cancer are worried about losing their job. A similar percentage with cancer (46%) have continued working since their diagnosis because of financial pressures, despite poor health.
More positively, 87% of respondents who had shared their diagnosis with colleagues said their employer had been accommodating with the support they needed. For example, 51% of those who said their employer was supportive said they were offered unlimited sick leave or time off for treatment.
More than four in 10 employers (42%) also said their employees want a better understanding of their cancer risk, according to research by Towergate Health & Protection.
In addition, a third (32%) of the 500 HR decision-makers polled said that being able easily to access screening for cancer had increased in importance to their employees. This finding comes amid ongoing post-Covid challenges for the NHS, including a lack of GP appointments and increased NHS waiting lists.
Debra Clark, head of specialist consulting at Towergate Health & Protection, said: “With survival rates high in cases of early diagnosis, providing risk profiling and screening for employees is likely to have a major impact on health and wellbeing across the workplace.”
“With survival rates high in cases of early diagnosis, providing risk profiling and screening for employees is likely to have a major impact on health and wellbeing across the workplace” – Debra Clark, Towergate Health & Protection
Close the care gap
Nursing provider RedArc has also highlighted three key steps employers can take to ‘close the care gap’ and better support employees with cancer. These are to:
- Offer support. Employers who don’t already offer support must consider doing so to ensure their employees can access help when they are affected by cancer, RedArc has said.
“With the disease being so prevalent and affecting such a large proportion of the population at one stage of their life or another, this is a clear way to demonstrate that employers care about the health of their employees,” it has argued. - Ensure support meets real needs. ‘Closing the Care Gap’ also means ensuring the support is carefully chosen and will really meet the needs of all of those who are affected by cancer, the provider has argued.“This might be the employee and/or their families – whether just diagnosed or undergoing treatment. Support needs to add genuine value, be sufficiently comprehensive and flexible to meet all the different practical and emotional needs of all concerned,” it said.
- Communicate. Employers need to ensure that once support is in place, that it is effectively and regularly communicated so that staff know it is available and how to access it, RedArc has recommended.
Christine Husbands, managing director for RedArc said: “Employers should be looking to improve the health outcomes of their employees and their families at very vulnerable times in their lives, simply because it’s the right thing to do.
“However, if a business case needs building, then the additional benefits for their own organisation are compelling – namely, differentiation against competitors, greater engagement with employees and improved perception of the employer,” she added.
Importance of employer support
Finally, digital health app Peppy has urged employers to recognise the important role they can play in offering early diagnosis and preventative care for cancer.
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In practice this means helping employees to recognise ‘red flags’ when symptoms need to be investigated, signposting to screening programmes, and encouraging employees to improve their lifestyle in order to prevent cancer from developing in the first place, it has advised.
Kathy Abernethy, chief nursing officer and director of menopause services at Peppy, said: “Absolute prevention is, of course, the holy grail which is where changes in lifestyle can be helpful but early detection is also in the best interests of employers and employees as treatment at this stage may be less invasive, faster and increase rates of survival.”
