Diagnosis: Cancer in the Workplace – What Employers Need to Know

This March, as we recognize Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, take stock of how your organization is supporting those dealing with the disease and their families. Whether it’s the colorectal variety, which is expected to cause approximately 51,020 deaths in 2019, or another type of cancer, resources exist to ease the emotional and financial burden on the afflicted and their families.

What Employers Can Do

Share information with employees that can directly impact quality of life before, during and after cancer treatment. It’s often said that we are all ‘healthcare consumers;’ why not help employees become the most knowledgeable consumers possible? Knowledge, as the old adage goes, is power. Cancer takes away the power a person may have felt about the trajectory of their life; understanding costs of medications and insurance coverages reveals a modicum of control.

Understanding what treatments cost and which alternatives exist are important, but so too is knowing where to turn if money is tight. It’s no secret that financial struggle can negatively impact health even in those who are seemingly healthy. To a cancer sufferer, balancing financial stress and health worries can affect their ultimate prognosis.

Options do exist for assistance – and knowing these options are available can be priceless to cancer sufferers in terms of their overall quality of life. Planning is key. Therefore, share guides like the one below with your employees. Entitled Cancer Costs: How to Manage Housing Expenses During Treatment, it gives those with cancer the information they need to make a plan for financial security throughout this journey.

One can emerge from the fight with cancer victorious – both healthwise and financially. Give employees the best chance for this outcome; supply them with helpful information.

Access the guide here: https://bit.ly/2tLA9RM

Prevention – Specifically, Against Colorectal Cancer

The spotlight this month is on this cancer, which affects mostly those over the age of 50. Though genetics can play a part in one’s development of this type of cancer, many of its risk factors are controllable. According to the American Cancer Society, smokers have a higher incidence than those who never light up. Physical inactivity and poor diet can also raise one’s risk profile; those who drink heavily are also at increased risk. For a detailed list of risk factors, visit https://bit.ly/2l6jAKF.

For more information regarding how you can educate and support your employees throughout their wellness journey, contact W3 Benefits and Wellness Strategist Trish Blocker at tblocker@w3ins.com or 727-522-7777 x173.