Cancer–work management during active treatment: towards a conceptual framework

Forward progress in cancer treatment has resulted in fewer adverse consequences of cancer during and after treatment, offering employed cancer patients the possibility of continuing to work during treatment, returning to work after treatment, or implementing a combination of strategies to manage the cancer–work interface. Yet, much of the research on cancer and employment examines return to work as the primary outcome, neglecting to consider the circumstances of survivors who maintain employment while engaged in active treatment. We introduce the Cancer–Work Management Framework (CWMF), a conceptual framework for understanding the cancer and job demands survivors who continue to work during active treatment experience and how cancer and job resources and strategies could promote cancer–work fit and ultimately optimize employment and health outcomes.

We provide an overview of the research describing the cancer–work management experiences of survivors who maintain employment during active treatment and summarize the theories that informed the CWMF including ecological systems, boundary-spanning, and job demands and resources theories.

The paper presents a description of the components of the CWMF which include cancer demands, cancer care resources and strategies, work demands, and workplace resources. We also describe a process—cancer–work fit—that reflects the interplay between demands and resources influence employment and health outcomes.

Future research directions for developing knowledge about the cancer–work management process are proposed with suggestions for study of how cancer and job demands influence cancer treatment and employment decisions.