Pink Monday study day: 'Work and breast cancer, how do you do it?'

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women: one in nine women will get breast cancer in her lifetime. "Chances are that sooner or later companies will have to deal with employees who temporarily drop out due to breast cancer," Hilde Debackere, managing director of Pink Ribbon, interrupted at the study day "Work and breast cancer, how do you do it? "How do you deal with it as a company? How do you react as a colleague? And as an employer? With Pink Monday , Pink Ribbon wants to make breast cancer discussable in the workplace and promote the return to work after breast cancer."

'Back to work' project

Treatment for breast cancer is becoming increasingly effective. As a result, survival rates are increasing and more and more women and men want to get back on track after treatment. But the return does not always go smoothly. On the contrary, it often becomes a course with obstacles. More than that, the reintegration process has the best chances of success when ex-patients are properly supervised. In practice, this happens only sparsely and Pink Monday wants to do something about it. That is why Frank Vandenbroucke, minister of social affairs and public health, was also invited to the study day to give his vision. "Working is very important to feel useful and respected," said the minister. "Of course health comes first, but those confronted with breast cancer also worry about their job and their future. Being able to keep the perspective of work is part of the recovery process." The government wants to make this possible by focusing on what people can still do. That's why Minister Vandenbroucke is launching "back to work" coordinators in 2022, in cooperation with health insurance funds, with the goal of guiding people to resume work after long-term disability. A large proportion struggle to take that step. Vandenbroucke counts (breast) cancer patients among them. The minister urges employers to make use of "back to work" coordinators when people drop out for a while due to breast cancer.

ACT Désiron

Huget Désiron, PhD in occupational therapy, and founder of ACT Désiron (Labor Consulting Team), has for years advocated for the use of occupational therapists to support cancer patients in their return to work. How to succeed the bridge between care and work? From occupational therapy, there has already been a track record of reintegrating breast cancer patients back into the workplace. "Integration of work into care is necessary," says Désiron. "Those who drop out sick worry about work, and this is where occupational therapists can play a role. "After acute health care, by doctors, there is an important role for paramedics who support the patient in daily activities and well-being, physical therapists and psychologists, for example. Once there is sufficient recovery, according to the patient, work can be done to return to work." The focus of occupational therapy is on participation. Patients sometimes go head over heels in the treatment process for breast cancer, but it is good that they know from diagnosis that help is available as soon as they need it. They need to get that information early from the health care system. You need to know what to ask occupational therapist for.

"We always start from the individual patient and his specific health problems," Huget Désiron clarifies. "The patient's feeling is a priority, but you also have to take into account the company you work in. Most people have to participate in a team. Occupational therapy can analyze and formalize that balance, which is important for employer and patient." Currently, ACT Désiron is working on a practical script that can support health care providers to provide tailored support to individuals who want to return to work after cancer.

Testimonial

That returning to the workplace after breast cancer is not easy, Christelle Belle testified about that at the study day. "An employee who drops out due to cancer goes through an emotional rollercoaster, but remains the same person," she told us. "You have to feel that you remain important to the company, both to your employer and to your colleagues. That makes a huge difference."

Return

Ellen Caers, coordinator Rentree - Working after cancer tells that her organization offers job coaches for people going through cancer. Not only for the person with cancer, but also for colleagues and employer. This is where breast cancer patients can go for guidance to the workplace. "The questions that come up here can be legal, technical or very personal. What does it mean for my pay or my pension if I take a year or more off? How do I tell my colleagues and my supervisor? How do you handle it as an employer? How do I stay active during my treatment process...? At Rentree we look for the right answers." Rentree has been around for six years and works with partners including Kom op tegen Kanker, VDAB and Sterpunt Inclusief Ondernemen. The organization offers customized individual coaching that is also free of charge. Central to this is the question: 'How to evolve to a sustainable, enjoyable job after cancer?" "We offer a personal Rentree coach, with a focus on job coaching," Caers explains, "From the first work-related question at diagnosis, the whole preparation to work resumption including follow-up." This service caters to employees, self-employed workers, civil servants and job seekers alike. "Our coaches act as confidants, also paying attention to the work-life balance, but just as well put files in order, for the health insurance fund for example."

Rentree also had tips for company managers and colleagues: maintain warm and concerned contact with your sick colleague, make appointments with the sick employee. Maintaining contact keeps the door open for work resumption. It is helpful to designate a point of contact in the workplace. Involve the labor physician in this as well. In the first days after returning to work, inquire how things went. Keeping this dialogue going is important in order to make timely adjustments if necessary. Sometimes an employee flies in too early and needs to be slowed down carefully. Also consider whether the cancer patient wants to be talked to about the cancer. Some people don't want that at all; others feel a need to talk about it. Knowing what is desirable avoids misunderstandings. Establish a reintegration policy: where can the employee go for questions? Who is informed, who is point of contact.

Cohezio

Katja Janssens, psychosocial manager at Cohezio, an external service for prevention and protection at work, also accompanies long-term sick people who wish to return to work. "We provide support on a human scale," Katja Janssens emphasizes. "Employers can also come to us for advice." Employers and managers can engage the organization on the shop floor. Janssens summarizes the core tasks for good reintegration in the acronym PINK.

If an employee or colleague is affected by breast cancer, maintain contact. Let them know you are there. Discuss what may be communicated to colleagues. An occasional small thought can make a very big difference.

Are measures needed for work resumption? For example, temporary part-time work, reorganization of the team, discuss this with the affected person's team.

Say no to the taboo surrounding breast cancer. Make it negotiable. Say no also to guard boundaries. Focus on now: build reintegration step by step. Review current needs first.

Invest in resilience of the individual and the team. Examine together what is still possible and what is not. Frame the patient and also the team. Provide the necessary supervision, both during absence and when returning to work. Keep in touch, find out what the wishes of the cancer patient are.

Testimonial

Magali Mertens de Wilmars founded Travail et Cancer asbl after her breast cancer. "You feel a bit lost when treatment is finished. The idea that you return to life as before is not true. Life doesn't become like before," she says. From her experiences, she founded her organization and coaches other breast cancer patients.

"In Belgium, you are active or non-active. That's not true. Resuming your work is a collective process. It is living with long-term side effects. Colleagues drop out at some point, but you yourself remain regularly very tired. You can no longer do the work the way you want to. You remain vulnerable. Cancer also always has a negative impact on your income. A coach helps you find yourself again and find peace with your new self. Cancer gives many people an extra strength: they are often more empathetic and can prioritize better.

FEB

In his closing remarks, Kris De Meester, first advisor of the Competence Center for Work and Social Security of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB) called on companies to sign the ethical charter for employers drawn up by FEB and Pink Ribbon. This charter is a document with policy points employers can endorse to facilitate the reintegration into the workplace of breast cancer patients. "There are enough actors to give support to companies," De Meester concluded, looking back on the study day.

"When someone gets a cancer diagnosis, all attention goes to treatment and cure, while everything else is stopped. That's very tough. It's better to focus on other things as well, including work." De Meester calls for more attention to sustainable employability. "If we want the employee with breast cancer to be able to continue to function, we have to balance knowledge, skills and the work situation. What does the employee expect from reintegration? What type of work is appropriate? What about working conditions? Provide a match. In this way, work can be a support in and after period of cancer." Kris De Meester is aware that there is still work to be done. "Companies need a broader approach that focuses on the employee with cancer as a human being," he says, "Customization is needed. Make sure the employee maintains a connection to the work, but play with the bandwidth. Let him follow an online meeting, for example, without joining the meeting. Play to needs and wants. Employees don't suddenly lose their competencies because of the cancer."