Laborde-Casterot and colleagues [[1]Laborde-Casterot H. Donnay C. Chapron J. Burgel P.R. Kanaan R. Honore I. et al.Employment and work disability in adults with cystic fibrosis.J Cyst Fibros. 2012; 11: 137-143Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar] rightly state that employment and vocational issues were largely neglected in CF research, thus confirming a former statement that psychosocial CF research is “long on psycho and short on social” [[2]Frydman M.I. Implications of cystic fibrosis for health services and the afflicted.Soc Sci Med. 1979; 13A: 147-150PubMed Google Scholar]. However, as recent studies show [3Demars N. Uluer A. Sawicki G.S. Employment experiences among adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis.Disabil Rehabil. 2010; 33: 922-926Crossref PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar, 4Edwards J. Boxall K. Adults with cystic fibrosis and barriers to employment.Disabil Soc. 2010; 25: 441-453Crossref Scopus (17) Google Scholar, 5Modi A.C. Quittner A.L. Boyle M.P. Assessing disease disclosure in adults with cystic fibrosis: the Adult Data for Understanding Lifestyle and Transitions (ADULT) survey disclosure of disease in adults with cystic fibrosis.BMC Pulm Med. 2010; 10: 46Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar] this bias seems to be corrected, stepwise. This is even more welcome since studies cited by Laborde-Casterot and coworkers clearly indicate the importance of employment and participation. Given the paucity of empirical data, which was confirmed in a recent review [[6]Saldana P.S. Pomeranz J.L. Cystic fibrosis and the workplace: a review of the literature.Work. 2012; 42: 185-193PubMed Google Scholar], it might be of interest to know that vocational issues had been (descriptively) addressed in a large multicentre study to introduce the psychosocial team approach to CF care in Germany (1988–1990) [[7]Ullrich G. Psychosocial care in cystic fibrosis. Results of a multicentre study.in: Petermann F. Series: studies on youth and family research. vol. 13. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt a.M., Bern, New York, Paris1993Google Scholar]. The basic description of the CF-population treated in the four largest German CF centres, at that time, also comprised data on school and vocational education as well as employment status. We were particularly interested to know the number of adults who successfully performed the transition from school to vocational career. Problems in this area would contribute to the task description of psychosocial professionals, social workers in particular. Expecting, at that time, a developmental delay, we used a cut-off of 20 years instead of 18 years for calculation, which resulted in a total of 171 adults (20–35 years), of whom 4% were still at school, while an impressive number of 39% of CF patients had finished school at the highest level (Grammar school A-level). This already reflected the wisdom of that time, namely that CF patients should strive to get the highest attainable education. As for vocational education and employment we categorised the type of education and the type of work according to its social status using an established system [[8]Moore H. Kleining G. The social self image of social classes in Germany.Koln Z Soziol Sozialpsychol. 1960; 12: 86-119Google Scholar]. Remarkably, the lowest levels were less frequent in CF patients, and of those already at work most were in white-collar professions. Half of the male adults and 60% of female adults were at least part-time workers. Although not definitely assessed, there were no signs of increased unemployment rates compared to healthy 20 year–25 year old peers. Furthermore, the patients' social status (according to vocational education or employment) showed a progression from the social status of the family of origin in terms of lower frequency of patients in the lowest social categories. The conclusion of Laborde-Casterot and co-workers, that “higher levels of education should be encouraged because they are likely to allow access to skilled jobs”, and that these “jobs are generally more amenable to the work-place adjustments that must accompany their long-term degradation in health” (p. 142) exactly fits to the philosophy that CF centre directors taught to all CF families, at that time. Fortunately, their message kept young adults going. The importance of vocational issues for maintaining hope (and adhering to time-consuming treatments) cannot be overestimated and should definitely be the target of future studies. Download .doc (.03 MB) Help with doc files Supplementary material.