Exploring long-term cancer survivors’ experiences in the career and financial domains: Interviews with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients

Abstract

Using semi-structured interviews with 50 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients who were 2 to 22 years post-transplant, this study investigates cancer survivors’ interpretations of their economic and work-related experiences during and after treatment. Survivors described a variety of challenges in these areas, including job insecurity, discrimination, career derailment, the lack of career direction, delayed goals, financial losses, insurance difficulties, constraints on job mobility, and physical/mental limitations. Survivors described the ways these challenges were offset by external factors that helped them to navigate these difficulties and buffered the negative financial and career-related impacts. Good health insurance, favorable job characteristics, job accommodations, and financial buffers were prominent offsetting factors. Most survivors, however, were also forced to rely on individual behavioral and interpretative strategies to cope with challenges. Behavioral strategies included purposeful job moves, retraining, striving harder, and retiring. Some strategies were potentially problematic, such as acquiring large debt. Interpretive strategies included reprioritizing and value shifts, downplaying the magnitude of cancer impact on one's life, denying the causal role of cancer in negative events, making favorable social comparisons, and benefit finding. Post-treatment counseling and support services may assist survivors in identifying available resources and useful strategies to improve long-term adaptation in the career and financial realms.