[Interventions to support the return-to-work process after cancer: a literature review]

Returning to work after cancer can be challenging for cancer survivors and little is known about interventions designed to support survivors returning to work.

The objective of this review was to identify interventions designed to support the return-to-work process after a cancer diagnosis.

A literature review was performed mainly done by consulting bibliographical databases. Systematic analysis and interpretation of the results were then performed.

Twenty-two articles were identified. The first finding is that very few interventions are specifically devoted to return to work after cancer and are usually administered in the clinical setting by healthcare practitioners. The activities proposed to support return to work in these interventions are individual counselling, provision of information and support groups. These activities are provided by various multidisciplinary teams composed of one or more professionals: occupational physicians, social workers and nurses. A second finding is that even with the use of experimental and quasi-experimental approaches, no effect was observed on return to work.

This integrative review highlights two recommendations for the development of future interventions. First, to improve the efficacy of future interventions on return to work of cancer survivors, these interventions must be developed and supported by an intervention theory. Second, future interventions must include and mobilize workplaces.