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Work/Life Connections Research & Advocacy Program |
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We seek to demonstrate to the business community that cancer survivors can be a great fit in their organizations. Good Health for Life works to encourage employers, as well as fellow employees, to shed old prejudices about workers with cancer. The key to this understanding is education and communication and will be fostered through this program. We want to dispel the notion that: · cancer is a death sentence… · a cancer diagnosis or cancer history will cause insurance premiums to increase… · cancer survivors are unproductive workers. |
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Good Health for Life is dedicated to efforts that oppose the marginalization of cancer survivors from the workplace. We deem it unacceptable that businesses should squander the talents of the current 9 million American cancer survivors and those that will be diagnosed in the coming years. In addition we ask, why should they be forced to burden their families, the Social Security and Medicare system when they can continue to contribute to society? Cancer will affect one in three Americans during their lifetimes. While medical care is essential for cancer survivors, often it is just as important for these people to maintain as normal a life as possible to speed recovery and maintain a positive quality of life. As part of its efforts, Good Health for Life engages in advocacy to encourage the business community and government to see merit in working with cancer survivors. In order to lend factual and emotional credibility to this effort, we are conducting survey research together with a series of on-camera interviews with cancer survivors. The survey focuses on the effect of work on a cancer survivor’s life, while the interviews will provide personal accounts of the workplace experiences of a diverse group of survivors. Those with cancer often dramatically change their lives; their diagnosis and treatment become a turning point. Some of these survivors are motivated to try something new, looking forward with resolve to making their lives more meaningful. Others perceive opportunities, are more motivated to pursue those opportunities and have a greater capacity to start new businesses than others. For those who choose to be employees, we know that while most employers treat cancer survivors fairly and legally, some – either through outdated personnel policies or an uninformed or misguided supervisor – erect unnecessary and sometimes illegal barriers to survivors’ job opportunities. Survivors encounter problems such as dismissal, failure to be hired, demotion, denial of promotion, denial of benefits, undesirable transfer and hostility by co-workers, along with a climate of fear should the survivor be ‘discovered’. A 1996 Amgen survey found that American workers with cancer are fired or laid off five times as often as other workers. One in 14 cancer survivors surveyed (7%) said they were fired or laid off from their jobs as a result of their illness. In contrast, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, in the same period, about one in 83 American workers (1.2%) lost their jobs due to firings or layoffs. |
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Cancer survivors are at times treated unfairly because some people still believe myths about cancer that lead them to make wrong assumptions about cancer survivors’ ability to work. These myths may include: That cancer is a death sentence; in reality, more than 60 percent of the survivors diagnosed today will win their battle with cancer (there are more than 9 million alive today in America);
That a cancer diagnosis or cancer history will cause insurance premiums to increase; in reality, one person’s illness is unlikely to affect group insurance costs dramatically unless the policy covers only a small number of workers;
That cancer survivors are unproductive workers; in reality, studies show that most adult survivors return to work after their diagnosis and have similar productivity rates to other workers.
Cancer survivors undergoing treatment may be particularly vulnerable to discrimination largely because supervisors and co-workers may be concerned that some treatment side effects will make them unable to handle their workloads effectively. Such attitudes, for the most part, are out of date. Medical advances to combat chemotherapy side effects such as nausea and susceptibility to infection are enabling many cancer survivors to remain productive in the workplace during treatment. The Good Health for Life Foundation works to encourage employers, as well as fellow employees, to shed old prejudices about workers with cancer. The key to this understanding is education and communication and will be fostered through this Work/Life Connections program. Through our healthcare partners, the Women’s Cancer Center and the Stanford Medical Center along with other foundation supporters, we will survey a total of 1,500 cancer survivors, 100 employers and 100 co-workers of cancer survivors and input the data into a database compliant with HIPPA security standards. The survey will serve as a baseline against which to measure the success of our entrepreneurship and advocacy efforts on an ongoing basis. Some of the questions we are measuring include: · How many cancer survivors were fired or laid off from their jobs as a result of their illness? · How many days of work was missed in an average month during cancer treatment? · How many employers feel the survivor could not handle the job and cancer, versus how many survivors expect that reaction? · How many employers feel the survivor will need to be replaced versus how many survivors expect that reaction? · How many employers cite fatigue, infection or nausea as a side effect suffered by survivors that has a negative impact to their productivity versus how many survivors expect that reaction? · How many employers expect a measurable increase in health coverage costs due to the cancer survivor? · How many survivors were able to inform their employers of their diagnosis? How many were not? · How many survivors decide to pursue entrepreneurship versus go back to their employer? |
A groundbreaking research project measuring the effects of work, health and family issues on cancer survivors |
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530.622.9118 530.622.9119—Fax info@ghfl.org |
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© 2004 Good Health for Life, Inc. All rights reserved. |
