Dive Brief:
- Employees who suffer from cancer present a particularly challenging scenario for HR leaders, one that requires a deeply thoughtful support program, according to an article at SHRM.
- Apart from the regulatory responsibilities related to supporting employees who have cancer (ADA, FMLA, HIPAA, etc.), speed matters. Timely, relevant information and assistance for employees with cancer will more than likely lower the risk of substandard care, increased costs, productivity loss and anxiety by everyone affected, according to SHRM.
- An estimated 1.7 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year, as cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. (heart disease is number one).
Dive Insight:
Rebecca V. Nellis, chief mission officer of Cancer and Careers, an educational organization based in New York City, told SHRM that the effort to manage cancer in the workplace compares to "pushing a big rock up a mountain slowly."
One effective solution offered by experts is adding a patient-navigation cancer benefit, which can prove invaluable in helping connect employees to the resources they need while keeping privacy intact. As it sounds, it gives employees access to the best information and treatment strategies from a "navigator," often a specially trained healthcare professional who does not work for the company.
Both medical experts and cancer survivors believe the best support comes from a formalized path when cancer strikes so supervisors or HR professionals can respond in the most effective way possible.