A pilot program backed by the US Businesses Leadership Network, Pfizer, WellPoint and others is hoping to provide additional resources for employers and employees to maintain a healthful and productive return to the workplace after a cancer diagnosis.
The Workplace Transitions for People Touched by Cancer is a $250,000 pilot that will take place with six major employers – Ernst & Young, Merck, North American Mission Board, Northrop Grumman, Verizon and WellPoint. Additional backers of the pilot include Cancer and Careers and SEDL, a nonprofit educational research firm.
The goal is to offer the resource for free to all employers next year.
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The pilot will give managers and HR staff a web-based toolkit that provides information and guidance with employees with cancer. As part of the project, researchers will survey employees from several large employers to determine if the toolkit was effective.
With more people surviving and living with cancer, it’s important that employers implement programs for employees who fall into that description, according to a 2005 Institute of Medicine report, recommending that providers, advocacy organizations and other government agencies “continue to educate employers and the public about the successes achieved in cancer treatment, the improved prospects for survival, and the continuing productivity of most patients who are treated for cancer.”
“Returning to work after being diagnosed with cancer or undergoing cancer treatment can be psychologically and physically challenging. It often brings mixed emotions of fear, relief, and hope,” said Dr. Sam Nussbaum, chief medical officer of WellPoint, which is providing the funding.
Providing an easier transition back to the workplace after a diagnosis can go a long way in helping the employee be more productive, assuage psychosocial concerns and be more healthful overall, organizers of the pilot said.
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Nearly 80 percent of people diagnosed with cancer say continuing work after diagnosis aids recovery, according to a 2013 survey from Cancer and Careers and Harris Interactive Yet just as many respondents said they struggle to find support navigating the work-life balance of employment with cancer.
A recent survey of 188 employers conducted by WellPoint discovered that only 15 percent of managers believed they had the tools and resources they needed to support employees in a cancer situation.
Oftentimes, an employer can take simple steps in aiding cancer recovery employees – from moving an office location for someone who is nauseated post-chemotherapy by the smell of a nearby cafeteria to adding a printer to the desk of of someone who is too fatigued to climb up several floors to a shared printer
