Understanding How Different Resources Facilitate Cancer Survivors’ Well-Being at Work
By Dianhan Zheng
Thanks to the significant advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment, most cancer patients (69%), according to the American Cancer Society, have lived more than five years since their diagnosis. Currently, a third of cancer survivors in the United States are younger than 65, an age when employment could still be the center of their lives. Returning to work has both instrumental and symbolic value to cancer survivors. It provides survivors with the necessary financial resources to continue their recovery journey and, perhaps more importantly, signifies the beginning of a new normal life. However, evidence suggests that various barriers are present in the workplace for cancer survivors, such as physical and cognitive limitations caused by the treatments, mental health challenges, and discrimination due to the “Big C” stigma, leading to work-related distress.
My co-authors and I, which include researchers in psychology, management, and nursing, were curious about what resources cancer survivors need to possess to achieve better well-being at work. When facing adversity, one of the most valuable attributes we can bring into the situation is our resilience, or our ability to bounce back, adapt, and thrive. Resilient cancer survivors should have psychological advantages at work as they navigate hurdles with positive outlooks. Besides resilience, what their job offers might also hold the key to their well-being, such as how much meaning they derive from their job. Moreover, how do different kinds of resources interact to affect working cancer survivors’ well-being?
With these questions in mind, we recruited two hundred full-time employees with a history of cancer and invited them to answer a survey. Not surprisingly, we found that participants with higher resilience generally reported less emotional distress at work. However, that was only true when they felt stuck in a job that was not meaningful to them. For survivors with meaningful work, their level of resilience was unrelated to emotional distress at work. Of course, having both resilience and a personally meaningful job is ideal. However, when one of these resources is lacking, the other one steps in. Survivors with less meaningful work can rely on their resilience to maintain their job-related well-being; for survivors with low resilience, having a personally meaningful job can protect them from work-related distress. Furthermore, we found that cancer survivors who were not emotionally distressed at work also reported less fatigue, intrusive thoughts about cancer reoccurrence, and presenteeism (i.e., showing up to work while feeling sick), all of which should further contribute to their long-term welfare.
Considering that many cancer survivors may have to make adjustments to their career trajectory or even settle for a career they feel less excited about, our findings highlight the value of participating in resilience-enhancing interventions for cancer survivors. In addition, the American Cancer Society projected a 24% increase in cancer survivors by 2032, meaning that how to manage employees with a history of cancer better could become a more salient issue for organizations. One takeaway message we could offer to managers of cancer survivors is to help these employees find meaning in their job actively. Meaningful work is not defined by pay or status. Instead, it is a perception that can be influenced by the actions of the organization and the managers, such as providing positive feedback regarding the impact of cancer survivors’ work, allowing them to craft their job responsibilities, and helping them develop meaningful relationships at work.
Article Details
The Contribution of Psychological Resilience and Job Meaningfulness to Well-being of Working Cancer Survivors
Dianhan Zheng, Alexander R. Marbut, Jing Zhang, and Louise C. O’Keefe
First published online May 2, 2022
DOI: 10.1177/21650799221085466
Workplace Health & Safety
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