Forget About the Bucket List: A Grounded Theory Model of Work After Cancer

Abstract

Approximately one in three individuals will develop cancer over their lifetime, frequently during employment years. Given the large number of employed cancer survivors, models that account for factors influencing cancer survivors’ career development are needed. Twenty-seven cancer survivors participated in semistructured focus groups on their work experiences, which were coded qualitatively utilizing grounded theory. The model of the impact of cancer on work highlights how survivors’ employment outcomes are influenced by a complex interaction of factors at the level of the individual, social support system, work environment, and healthcare system, with work volition a key point of intervention by counselors.