SusTained Employability in cancer Patients and their partnerS

Conditions: Cancer

Registration Number: NL-OMON25514

Lead Sponsor: This research is initiated by Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc and is funded by the Dutch Cancer Society (ref. 11558 / 2018-01)

Brief Summary: Results from this research are aimed to be published in peer-reviewed journals and in a PhD thesis. The protocol of this study will be published, more detailed, in a journal (reference to follow).

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Pending

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 503

Inclusion Criteria

The sample will be composed of cancer survivors of working age (18-63 years of age at time of diagnosis), with histologically confirmed cancer and a life expectancy of more than one year. At study entry, eligible cancer survivors have a fixed or temporary employment contract, with at least six months left of their contract, and a history of paid work for at least one year prior to diagnosis (with a minimum of 8 contracted working hours/week). Cancer survivors can both be at work or (partly) on sick leave when entering the study. Cancer survivors will be recruited 3-18 months post-diagnosis. The cut-off for the maximum time post-diagnosis was set at 18 months in order to complete the intervention before a potential work disability assessment, which (in the Netherlands) takes place at 24 months of sick leave to determine whether someone will receive work disability benefits (18 + 6 months intervention = 24 months). Moreover, cancer survivors will be eligible for participation if they are, or have been, treated with at least radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Cancer survivors with additional treatment modalities, besides radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, will be eligible for participation as well.
Partners of a cancer survivor who participates in the intervention study are eligible. However, both partners of cancer survivors who do and do not participate in the intervention study will be eligible to participate in the cohort study. Partners of cancer survivors who have had a cancer diagnosis no more than 24 months ago and who have a life expectancy of at least one year, are eligible. Partners should be registered at the same address as the cancer survivor at least one year pre-diagnosis. Moreover, eligible partners should be between 18-65 years of age, have a fixed or a temporary employment contract at the time of diagnosis of the cancer survivors, and a history of paid work for at least one year prior to diagnosis (with =8 contracted working hours per week). Partners of cancer survivors can both be at work or (partly) on sick leave when entering the study.

Exclusion Criteria

Cancer survivors will be excluded if their treating physicians consider occupational rehabilitation not feasible, if cancer survivors have serious cognitive or psychiatric problems, or serious physical comorbidities that would preclude them from participating in an occupational rehabilitation program, and/or if cancer survivors lack basic proficiency in Dutch. Cancer survivors participating in concurrent studies or rehabilitation programs aimed at return to work or work retention will also be excluded.
Partners will be excluded from participation in the cohort study in case of self-reported serious cognitive or psychiatric problems that would prevent them from completing the questionnaires, and/or in case they are unable to understand and complete questionnaires in Dutch.