Work and Cancer Survivors
Work and Cancer Survivors Edited by Michael Feuerstein, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland Cancer survivors are returning to the workplace in higher numbers than ever before. This is a positive outcome of the "war on
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Michael Feuerstein
Work and Cancer Survivors
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Michael Feuerstein Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, MD, USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-0-387-72040-1 e-ISBN 978-0-387-72041-8 DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-72041-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008939901 # Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper springer.com
Work we know is both a burden and a need, both a curse and a blessing. But work is an extension of personality. It is an achievement. It is one of the ways a person defines himself or herself, measures his work and his humanity. –Peter Drucker
Foreword
During the past decade, there has been a dramatic shift in the focus of cancer outcomes research. Five-year survival rates are no longer the gold standard; many cancers have become like other chronic diseases, where prolonged survival is common, even with repeated relapses. Success is more appropriately measured in terms of quality of life, not mortality. For most adults, work is an essential component of daily life in the developed world, a key facet of participation in society. Thus, the focus of this book is timely, and crucial, as providers and patients begin to think more broadly about life after treatment. What can cancer researchers learn from those of us who have been studying return to work and disability prevention in musculoskeletal disorders? We bring a long tradition of theoretical and scientific development. Purely biomedical models have given way to a broader biopsychosocial view. Specific diagnoses and purely clinical measures fail to explain much of the variance in return to work outcomes. Disability is a separate condition, where motivation, skills, attitudes and outlook, employer-employee communication, accommodations, and other psychosocial factors are the primary outcome determinants. Medical interventions, at least at this point, appear to have relatively little impact compared to approaches that pursue a multidisciplinary and integrated approach, focused on case-specific barriers to return to work. There is good evidence for efforts to improve employer responses, address patient fears and concerns, support employer-employee problem-solving about work modification, and facilitate provider-employer communication. Current investigations are
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