Testing the Effectiveness of a Work Rehabilitation Intervention for Women with Breast Cancer

Summary

Women with breast cancer make up a significant proportion of cancer survivors, with more than 43,750 women living with breast cancer in Ireland. However, many women report physical and psychological health difficulties that interfere with their ability to return to work. In Ireland, and internationally, these difficulties are being increasingly recognised, with recent research identifying gaps in rehabilitation services to prepare women with breast cancer to return to work. Collaborating with women with breast cancer, and those who provide health and supportive services to individuals living with cancer in Ireland, an online self-management intervention, CanWork, was developed. CanWork aims to support women with breast cancer to manage the process of returning to work and learn strategies to manage post-treatment health-related difficulties. CanWork also provides information on workplace entitlements. This intervention was trialled with women with breast cancer in 2021, who reported that the programme gave them confidence to return to work and that the content was relevant. This study will include a larger group of women with breast cancer to determine if CanWork is effective in supporting return to work. To do this, 248 women with breast cancer will be included in the study, half of whom will receive CanWork and the results will be compared with women who do not receive the intervention. Having a programme that is financially viable is important and therefore the costs involved in running and attending the intervention will also be calculated. Should this study demonstrate that CanWork is effective in supporting women with breast cancer to return to work, the study team will collaborate with cancer services in Ireland to make the programme available nationally.

Conditions

• Breast Cancer

Interventions

OTHER

CanWork

CanWork is an online, occupational therapy intervention to develop knowledge and skills to manage cancer-related symptoms that interfere with return to work. It consists of five, 90-minute group-based modules and an individual meeting between the occupational therapist facilitator and each participant. Each of the five-week group-based modules consists of two components: (i) education and peer-led discussion of cancer-related symptom management and supports available to manage difficulties in work and (ii) goal setting to facilitate application of knowledge and skills to work-related activities. Weekly topics include managing fatigue in work, understanding cancer-related cognitive impairments, strategies for managing physical and mental health in work and effective communication with employers and colleagues. The individual meeting between each participant and the occupational therapist is focused on designing a tailored return to work plan for each participant.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Cancer Control Programme, Ireland

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Galway

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Dublin, Trinity College

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Deirdre Connolly, PhD · University of Dublin, Trinity College

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-11-13

Primary Completion

2027-09-30

Completion

2028-03-31

Countries

• Ireland

Study Locations