Multiple myeloma in people of working age in Czechia, Germany, and Poland: findings from a qualitative interview study.

IF 3.1 2区 医学 Q2 ONCOLOGY
Journal of Cancer Survivorship Pub Date : 2025-06-01 Epub Date: 2023-12-20 DOI:10.1007/s11764-023-01510-1
Liz Forbat
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: The study sought to understand the experiences of working age adults with myeloma and their partner/family members, living in Czechia, Germany, and Poland.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 36 working age adults living with myeloma, and three family members. Data were collected from May to October 2022. Thematic analysis was applied to the data.

Results: Healthcare and state support within each country are described. The degree of work engagement was informed by patients' symptom burden, treatment needs, state financial aid, and family/financial obligations. Many did not conceptualise their status as involving 'return to work' as they had continued to be engaged with their jobs throughout. For some, remote working enabled them to manage treatments/side-effects and their job, while avoiding infection. In some cases, patients did not tell their employer or colleagues about their illness, for fear of discrimination.

Conclusion: While experiences varied between countries, common across accounts was a struggle to balance ongoing treatments with employment, at a time when participants were expected to finance their own households and maintain their income and roles. Implications for Cancer Survivors To improve quality of life, clinical discussions around treatment decision-making should take into account patients' attitudes/approach to work, type of work engaged in, and other activities considered important to them. European Union and national cancer plans should set out optimum standards for employers, to ensure an equitable benchmark for how employees are supported. Such approaches would improve legal protections and better enforcement of employer policies to accommodate patients' limitations in the workplace.

捷克、德国和波兰工作年龄人群中的多发性骨髓瘤:定性访谈研究的结果。
目的:本研究旨在了解生活在捷克、德国和波兰的骨髓瘤患者及其伴侣/家庭成员的经历:对 36 名处于工作年龄段的骨髓瘤患者及其 3 名家庭成员进行了定性访谈。数据收集时间为 2022 年 5 月至 10 月。对数据进行了主题分析:结果:对每个国家的医疗保健和国家支持进行了描述。患者参与工作的程度取决于其症状负担、治疗需求、国家财政援助以及家庭/经济义务。许多人并没有把自己的状况视为 "重返工作岗位",因为他们自始至终都在工作。对一些人来说,远程工作使他们能够处理治疗/副作用和工作,同时避免感染。在某些情况下,由于担心受到歧视,患者不会将自己的病情告诉雇主或同事:尽管不同国家的经验各不相同,但共同之处在于,当参与者需要为自己的家庭提供资金并维持收入和角色时,他们需要努力在持续治疗和就业之间取得平衡。对癌症幸存者的启示 为了提高生活质量,围绕治疗决策的临床讨论应考虑患者对工作的态度/方法、所从事工作的类型以及对他们而言重要的其他活动。欧盟和各国的癌症计划应为雇主制定最佳标准,以确保在如何支持员工方面有一个公平的基准。这些方法将改善法律保护,更好地执行雇主政策,以适应患者在工作场所的限制。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
7.00
自引率
10.80%
发文量
149
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Cancer survivorship is a worldwide concern. The aim of this multidisciplinary journal is to provide a global forum for new knowledge related to cancer survivorship. The journal publishes peer-reviewed papers relevant to improving the understanding, prevention, and management of the multiple areas related to cancer survivorship that can affect quality of care, access to care, longevity, and quality of life. It is a forum for research on humans (both laboratory and clinical), clinical studies, systematic and meta-analytic literature reviews, policy studies, and in rare situations case studies as long as they provide a new observation that should be followed up on to improve outcomes related to cancer survivors. Published articles represent a broad range of fields including oncology, primary care, physical medicine and rehabilitation, many other medical and nursing specialties, nursing, health services research, physical and occupational therapy, public health, behavioral medicine, psychology, social work, evidence-based policy, health economics, biobehavioral mechanisms, and qualitative analyses. The journal focuses exclusively on adult cancer survivors, young adult cancer survivors, and childhood cancer survivors who are young adults. Submissions must target those diagnosed with and treated for cancer.
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