Top

Supportive Care in Cancer

Published in:

Open Access 01-09-2019 | Original Article

Respectful encounters from healthcare professionals and return to work among 9032 long-term sick-listed due to cancer or due to other diagnoses: results from a Swedish population-based survey

Authors: Tomas Månsson, Niels Lynøe, Kristina Alexanderson, Elin Hinas, Gert Helgesson, Emilie Friberg

Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer | Issue 9/2019

Abstract

Purpose

To examine whether experiences of positive respectful encounters and negative disrespectful encounters differ between sickness absentees with a cancer diagnosis and sickness absentees with other diagnoses, especially in relation to their ability to return to work (RTW).

Methods

A total of 9032 long-term sickness absentees in Sweden responded to a questionnaire (response rate 52%) about experiences of positive and negative encounters with healthcare professionals. The association between different types of such encounters and participants feeling respected or disrespected were calculated with population attributable risk with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The perceived impact on ability to RTW was also examined.

Results

Significantly, larger proportions among those who experienced a positive encounter and also felt respected stated that those encounters facilitated their ability to RTW, compared to those who experienced a positive encounter without feeling respected: among cancer absentees the difference in proportions were 21% (CI, 7–34) versus 50% (CI, 45–55); among absentees with other diagnoses 42% (CI, 37–47) versus 63% (CI, 61–64). Similar comparisons among sick-listed who experienced negative encounters indicated that also feeling disrespected impeded ability to RTW among a significantly larger proportion of those with other diagnoses [51% (CI, 48–54) versus 35% (CI, 31–39) of those not feeling disrespected]. Among cancer absentees, the corresponding proportions were 20% (CI, 9–30) versus 25% (CI, 9–41).

Conclusions

Compared to sickness absentees with other diagnoses, a larger proportion of cancer sickness absentees stated that they were facilitated by respectful encounters and not impeded by disrespectful encounters, regarding self-estimated ability to RTW. More research is needed to examine whether these differences can be associated with use of a patient-centered encountering approach.

de Boer AG, Verbeek JH, Spelten ER et al (2008) Work ability and return-to-work in cancer patients. Br J Cancer 98(8):1342–1347. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6604302 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

de Boer, AGEM, Taskila, TK, Tamminga SJ, Feuerstein MHW, Frings-Dresen M, Verbeek JH (2015) Interventions to enhance return-to-work for cancer patients (review). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (9). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007569.pub3

Paltrinieri S, Fugazzaro S, Bertozzi L, Bassi MC, Pellegrini M, Massimo V, Mazzini E, Costi S (2018) Return to work in European Cancer survivors: a systematic review. Support Care Cancer 26:2983–2994. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4270-6 CrossRefPubMed

Allebeck P, Mastekaasa A (2004) Chapter 5. Risk factors for sick leave - general studies. Scand J Public Health 32(63_suppl):49–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/14034950410021853 CrossRef

Cancelliere C, Donovan J, Stochkendahl MJ, Biscardi M, Ammendolia C, Myburgh C, Cassidy JD (2016) Factors affecting return to work after injury or illness: best evidence synthesis of systematic review. Chiropr Man Therap 24(1):32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-016-0113-z CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Lynøe N, NattochDag S, Lindström M, Juth N (2016) Heed or disregard a cancer patient’s critical blogging? An experimental study of two different framing strategies. BMC Med Ethics 17:30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-016-0115-3 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Jagosh J, Boudreau JD, Steinert Y, Macdonald ME, Ingram L (2011) The importance of physician listening from the patients’ perspective: enhancing diagnosis, healing, and the doctor–patient relationship. Patient Educ Couns 85:369–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2011.01.028 CrossRefPubMed

Müssener U, Söderberg E, Svensson T, Alexanderson K (2008) Encouraging encounters: sick-listed persons’ experiences of interactions with rehabilitation professionals. Soc Work Health Care 46(2):71–87. https://doi.org/10.1300/J010v46n02_05 CrossRefPubMed

Wessel M, Helgesson G, Olsson D, Juth N, Alexanderson K, Lynöe N (2013) When do patients feel wronged? Empirical study of sick-listed patients’ experiences with healthcare encounters. Eur J Pub Health 23:230–235. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cks030 CrossRef

10.

Schroll A-M, Kjærgaard H, Midtgaard J (2013) Encountering abuse in health care; lifetime experiences in postnatal women - a qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 13:74. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-13-74 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

11.

Brüggemann J, Swahnberg K (2013) What contributes to abuse in health care? A grounded theory of female patients’ stories. Int J Nurs Stud 50:404–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.10.003 CrossRefPubMed

12.

Kitson A, Marshall A, Bassett K, Zeitz K (2013) What are the core elements of patient-centred care? A narrative review and synthesis of the literature from health policy, medicine and nursing. J Adv Nurs 69:4–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06064.x CrossRefPubMed

13.

Lynöe N, Wessel M, Olsson D, Alexanderson K, Helgesson G (2011) Respectful encounters and return to work: empirical study of long-term sick-listed patients’ experiences of Swedish healthcare. BMJ Open 1:e000246. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000246 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

14.

Müssener U, Ståhl C, Söderberg E (2015) Does the quality of encounters affect return to work? Lay people describe their experiences of meeting various professionals during their rehabilitation process. Work 52:447–455. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-152121 CrossRefPubMed

15.

Sturesson M, Edlund C, Falkdal AH, Bernspång B (2014) Healthcare encounters and return to work: a qualitative study on sick-listed patients’ experiences. Prim Health Care Res Dev 15:464–475. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1463423614000255 CrossRefPubMed

16.

Svensson T, Müssener U, Alexanderson K (2006) Pride, empowerment and return to work: on the significance of promoting positive social emotions among sickness absentees. Work 27:57–65PubMed

17.

Nilsson M, Olsson M, Wennman-Larsen A, Petersson LM, Alexanderson K (2011) Return to work after breast cancer: women’s experiences of encounters with different stakeholders. Eur J Oncol Nurs 15:267–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2011.03.005 CrossRefPubMed

18.

Bondesson T, Petersson LM, Wennman-Larsen A, Alexanderson K, Kjeldgård L, Nilsson M (2016) A study to examine the influence of health professionals' advice and support on work capacity and sick leave after breast cancer surgery. Support Care Cancer 24:4141–4148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3239-6 CrossRefPubMed

19.

Nilsson M, Olsson M, Wennman-Larsen A, Petersson LM, Alexanderson K (2013) Women’s reflections and actions regarding working after breast cancer surgery – a focus group study. Psychooncology 22(12):1639–1644. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.3192 CrossRefPubMed

20.

Svensson T, Karlsson A, Alexanderson K, Nordqvist C (2003) Shame-inducing encounters: negative emotional aspects of sickness-absentees’ interactions with rehabilitation professionals. J Occup Rehabil 13:183–195. https://doi.org/10.1023/A.1024905302323 CrossRefPubMed

21.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD (2010) Sickness, disability and work: Breaking the barriers. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264088856-en

22.

Försäkringskassan (2017) Social Insurance in Figures 2017. (The Swedish Social Insurance Agency). https://www.forsakringskassan.se/wps/wcm/connect/6fa0e434-a212-4e6b-8c8d-5d7a498a253d/socialforsakringen-i-siffror-2017-engelsk.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=. Accessed 24 Jan 2019

23.

Hedberg C, Lynöe N (2013) What is meant by patient-centredness being value-based? Scand J Prim Health Care 31:188–189. https://doi.org/10.3109/02813432.2013.848543 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

24.

Boyle D, Dwinnell B, Platt F (2005) Invite, listen, and summarize: a patient-centered communication technique. Acad Med 80:29–32CrossRefPubMed

25.

Benichou J (2001) A review of adjusted estimators of attributable risk. Stat Methods Med Res 10:195–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/096228020101000303 CrossRefPubMed

26.

Socialstyrelsen (2008) Läkarnas specialiseringstjänstgöring: Föreskrifter och allmänna råd: Målbeskrivningar. (The National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden, Stockholm, (2008) Physicians specialist training: Regulations and general recommendations: Goal descriptions). https://www.socialstyrelsen.se/Lists/Artikelkatalog/Attachments/8763/2008-126-2_20081263.pdf. Accessed 24 Jan 2019

27.

Högskoleförordningen (1993:100), Bilaga 2. Sveriges Riksdag. (The High Educ Act (1993:100) Supplement 2. The Swedish Parliament.) https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/hogskoleforordning-1993100_sfs-1993-100. Accessed 24 Jan 2019

28.

Bränström R, Arrelöv B, Gustavsson C, Kjeldgård L, Ljungquist T, Nilsson GH, Alexanderson K (2014) Sickness certification at oncology clinics: perceived problems, support, need for education, and reasons for certifying unnecessarily long sickness absences. Eur J Cancer Care 23:89–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.12104 CrossRef

29.

Lindholm C, von Knorring M, Arrelöv B, Nilsson G, Hinas E, Alexanderson A (2013) Health care management of sickness certification tasks: results from two surveys to physicians. BMC Research Notes 6:207. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-6-207 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

30.

Album D, Westin S (2008) Do diseases have a prestige hierarchy? A survey among physicians and medical students. Soc Sci Med 66:182–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.07.003 CrossRefPubMed

Title: Respectful encounters from healthcare professionals and return to work among 9032 long-term sick-listed due to cancer or due to other diagnoses: results from a Swedish population-based survey
Authors: Tomas Månsson
Niels Lynøe
Kristina Alexanderson
Elin Hinas
Gert Helgesson
Emilie Friberg
Publication date: 01-09-2019
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer / Issue 9/2019
Print ISSN: 0941-4355
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7339
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-4652-4

Webinar | 19-02-2024 | 17:30 (CET)

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer

Watch now

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are novel agents that have shown promise across multiple tumor types. Explore the current landscape of ADCs in breast and lung cancer with our experts, and gain insights into the mechanism of action, key clinical trials data, existing challenges, and future directions.

Dr. Véronique Diéras

Prof. Fabrice Barlesi

Developed by: Springer Medicine

ACC 2024 Congress

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 9/2019

Effect of acupressure on constipation in patients with advanced cancer

Patient perspectives on adapting meaning-centered psychotherapy in advanced cancer for the Chinese immigrant population

Web-based videoconferencing for rural palliative care consultation with elderly patients at home

Physical activity and fitness among pediatric cancer survivors: a meta-analysis of observational studies

Pharmacological evidence of medicinal cannabis in oncology: a systematic review

Evolution of antiemetic studies for radiation-induced nausea and vomiting within an outpatient palliative radiotherapy clinic

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer