Behavioral, Psychological, Educational and Vocational Interventions to Facilitate Employment Outcomes for Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

In the United States, an estimated 1.5 million people are diagnosed annually with some type of cancer (American Cancer Society, 2011). Work is an important stabilizing factor for cancer survivors (Arnold, 1999). De Boer and colleagues (2009) identified a rate of 33.8% unemployment among cancer survivors beyond the age of 18 compared to 15.2% among a healthy international control population. Greater awareness of the job-related and workplace issues that cancer survivors face can lead to more comprehensive rehabilitation plans and recovery (Centers for Disease Control, 2011; Nathan, Hayes-Lattin, Sisler, & Hudson, 2011). Although various recent interventions have been developed to address unemployment among cancer survivors, these have not yet been systematically evaluated.

The objective of this systematic review is to examine experimental and quasi-experimental studies about interventions that (i) include one or more behavioral, psychological, educational, or vocational components, (ii) involve cancer survivors aged 18 years or older, and (iii) assess intervention outcomes on employment outcomes. The aims are both to describe the variety of interventions that have been studied using rigorous methods and to estimate intervention effects.