Supporting Return-to-Work in the Face of Legislation: Stakeholders’ Experiences with Return-to-Work After Breast Cancer in Belgium

Abstract

Two factors might hamper RTW for breast cancer patients: the varying stakeholder perspectives and Belgian legislation which emphasizes the patient or disability role, but not the employee role. When stakeholders are motivated they find ways to support RTW, but improved legislation could support the necessary coordination of RTW for these patients.

Incapacité de travail prolongée. Revue des facteurs de risque professionnels et des stratégies d’intervention

“…Les différences de perspective et d'objectifs entre les différentes personnes intervenant dans le traitement et l'accompagnement des patients cancéreux, constituent une autre difficulté en vue du retour au travail [15].…”

“Dis-able bodied” or “dis-able minded”: stakeholders’ return-to-work experiences compared between physical and mental health conditions

“…[13,14] Moreover, employers' actions appear influenced by the value and the replaceability of the sick-listed employee, and by the presence of goodwill and trust. [4,6,[15][16][17][18][19] Finally, research has pointed to the potentially facilitating role of OHPs in the RTW process, [4] the stimulating role of unions on employers taking proactive RTW measures, [8,20] and to the relevance of coworkers in the phase before, during and after the RTW. [21,22] As such, these studies highlight the significance (and complexity) of workplace relations and multidisciplinary collaboration in the RTW process.…”

“…[4,23] This is because scholars have either addressed RTW experiences in relation to a specific symptom group, such as musculoskeletal disorders, [7,14] cancer, [13,17] common mental disorders [19,24] and depression, [20] or have not distinguished between the two health conditions in their findings. [6,9,11,12,15,16,18] As a result, the limited available research has proven inconclusive so far: While some literature reviews suggest the existence of similarities between RTW experiences in physical (here, musculoskeletal) and mental health conditions, [23] such as the importance of work adjustments, [4,25] qualitative studies noted differences in RTW experiences between both health conditions.…”

“…For instance, with regard to early contact, Tjulin et al [26] found that supervisors and coworkers felt that the timing of the RTW should vary between physical and mental illnesses, and Hoefsmit et al [10] observed that in mental cases, supervisors and employees tended to not have early contact, compared to physical cases. The inconclusiveness of evidence leaves a significant gap in the existing literature, since understanding how the RTW process can be tailored (or might not need to be tailored) to the needs of the physically or mentally sick-listed employee may promote an earlier RTW, and in so doing create a "win-win situation" [17,26] for all parties involved.…”

Factors influencing return-to-work following upper extremity surgery

“…(88) Research on stakeholder perspectives have often used qualitative research designs. (229)(230)(231)(232)(233)(234)(235) Little is known about the perspectives of stakeholders involved in the RTW process who may yield valuable real-world experience of the factors influencing RTW for workers with UE conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine stakeholder's perspectives on factors that influence a worker's ability to RTW following surgery for a non-traumatic UE conditions.…”