Sustained employability in cancer patients and their partners (STEPS)

Recruiting

Conditions: Cancer
neoplasm
10027655

Registration Number: NL-OMON52691

Lead Sponsor: Vrije Universiteit Medisch Centrum

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Recruiting

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 503

Inclusion Criteria

For the RCT on cancer patients: The sample will be composed of cancer survivors
of working age (18-64 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 WIA assessment,
which takes place at 24 months of sick leave to determine whether someone will
receive work disability benefits (18 + 6 months intervention = 24 months).
Cancer survivors will be eligible for inclusion if they are, or have been,
treated with at least radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Prior research has
shown that cancer survivors who received complex treatments, i.e.,
chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or a combination thereof, indicated lower
workability than cancer survivors who were treated by means of surgery alone
[6]. Therefore, we conclude that cancer survivors who have received
chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, alone or in combination with hormonal
therapy, immunotherapy, or surgery, could potentially benefit more from the
STEPS intervention than cancer survivors who were treated by means of hormonal
therapy, immunotherapy, or surgery alone. Patients should have a life
expectancy of more than 1 year.

For the partner cohort: Partners are defined as being married to or cohabiting
with a cancer survivors at the time of the cancer diagnosis and at study entry.
Eligible partners are between 18-65 years of age, had paid work (i.e., have a
fixed or a temporary employment contract, or are self-employed) at the time of
diagnosis of the cancer survivors, and have a history of paid work for at
least one year prior to diagnosis (i.e., a minimum of 8 working hours/week).
Partners of cancer survivors can be at work or (partly) on sick leave when
entering the study. Both partners of cancer survivors who accepted the
invitation to participate in the RCT and partners of those cancer survivors who
declined participation in the RCT will be eligible to participate. For the
cohort study, partners of patients who were diagnosed with cancer a maximum of
five years ago are eligible.

Exclusion Criteria

For the RCT on cancer patients: Cancer survivors will be excluded if their
treating physicians consider occupational rehabilitation unfeasible, 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 RTW or continuation of work prior to their potential
participation in the STEPS study will also be excluded. cancer survivors will
be asked about their participation in concurrent studies or rehabilitation
programs on the screening questionnaire and during the screening interview by
telephone. Furthermore, cancer survivors will be excluded if they are, or have
been, treated by means of surgery, immunotherapy, or anti-hormonal therapy
alone. Lastly, cancer survivors will be excluded if they refuse the involvement
of their employer in the STEPS intervention.

For the partner cohort: Partners will be excluded in case of serious
self-reported cognitive or psychiatric problems that would prevent them from
completing the questionnaires, and/or in case they are not able to understand
and complete a questionnaire in Dutch.