Cancer survivors and work issues from the organisational perspective in Singapore.

Abstract

With advances in medical technology in current day society, the rate of cancer survivorship has increased continuously. This topic has gathered more and more attention in the media. There has been plenty of literature analysing this topic and providing recommendations for the betterment of cancer survivors’ lives in the Western context. Unfortunately, this topic has yet to be received widely in Singapore, in terms of governmental support and academic attention. There is thus an imminent need to address problems faced by cancer survivors as they embark on their journey back into the workforce and resume their lives.

A previous pilot study of the top 500 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore was conducted to examine employment problems faced by cancer survivors upon re-entry to society after primary treatment. This research study expanded on the previous research, covering a wider and broader base of larger scaled organisations and corporations, examining the issues underlying this topic from an organisational perspective.

This research study was conducted through 10 in-depth interviews and 145 web survey respondents. Research findings of this study involving the new target respondent group indicated the importance of social responsibility on this issue, and also highlighted the important role existing relationships between employers and employees play when it comes to retaining cancer survivors in the workforce.