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Vanessa: Only recently, the group risk industry body GRiD reported that only one third (30%) of employers offered support to help employees with serious illness, such as cancer, to stay in or return to work. They found that in most cases, employees want to remain in work when diagnosed with cancer, if they’re physically and mentally able to. So, how did (or still does) traditional support – from both healthcare providers and employers – fall short, when an employee is diagnosed with cancer?
Kelly: I think there’s often an over-reliance on charities after cancer treatment. Charities have a strong role in education, but they can’t plug the hole in individual support.
Also, an indirect challenge for healthcare providers is the phenomenon of survivor guilt. Individuals might not want to go to their GP to ask for help with things like pain, fatigue, or digestive problems, because they consider they’re the lucky ones, so they just need to get on with it.
Then, looking at this from the employer perspective, cancer is definitely high impact but still low incidence in the workplace.
Most employers won’t see a cancer case every year. So, they don’t build in the support like they might for something like employee mental health or back pain.
Support is also lacking, in all quarters, for the knock-on effects of cancer. For example, someone with cancer who’s also looking after a child. Or someone who’s caring for a parent, or other loved one, with cancer. There’s very limited consideration for such instances.
Then, when it’s back to work time, colleagues will probably celebrate your return, then won’t talk about it again. This is probably because they think it’s for the best. But, the fact is, this leaves people feeling really unsupported.
Vanessa: So, how does Perci Health’s service, now included where clinically appropriate in Legal & General’s Group Income Protection (GIP) vocational rehabilitation services, help meet the kind of bespoke support needs that you’re describing?
Kelly: When someone is referred to us by Legal & General, we would typically provide three months’ intense support, where appropriate; everything from personalised care plans created by a team of cancer nurses, to access to our multi-specialty team, which includes cancer-trained psychologists, dieticians, physiotherapists, menopause practitioners, occupational therapists, lymphoedema specialists and more.
Individuals are assigned a dedicated cancer nurse. They’ll carry out an initial 60-minute appointment – a structured holistic needs assessment – where all factors will be considered: physical, psychological and social.
As part of this, we’ll assess whether the individual is ready for a return to work. If they are, we’ll work in partnership with the employee, the employer and the Legal & General case manager to support their return. The dedicated cancer nurse would continue to check in every two weeks during that initial three month period, and also refer in to other specialists over that time as appropriate.
Alongside this, we’d educate the individual on what to expect over the coming months. And they can access our digital platform for as long as they like. This includes expert-created articles and video-based learning programmes to help them build confidence to manage their condition in the long term.
Vanessa: What are the most useful aspects of Perci Health’s services, according to your users?
Kelly: Our nurses receive the most feedback. Users often report that the support their nurse provided, made them feel like a person and not just a cancer diagnosis. They feel it’s the first time someone has really listened to what’s important to them.
For example, our nurses often hear “It’s the first time someone has asked me that”. This could be in relation to all kinds of things, such as: the impact of their cancer diagnosis and treatment on their family; problems related to sexual dysfunction; or experiences of treatment-induced menopause symptoms.
Vanessa: How does Perci Health dovetail with existing support and services available via Legal & General Group Protection?
Kelly: Legal & General’s outcomes-focused framework Be Well. Get Better. Be Supported. is completely aligned with our thinking at Perci Health, in terms of taking a whole person approach, ensuring mental wellbeing underpins everything, and being guided by an understanding that ‘good work is beneficial for health’.
Perci Health sits in the ‘Get Better’ and ‘Be Supported’ pillars. It’s within these pillars that Legal & General’s in-house clinical team provides direct and bespoke support to employers and employees with respect to early intervention and vocational rehabilitation. The Legal & General clinical team will liaise with us to provide specialist support in instances of a cancer diagnosis and subsequent GIP claim.
Download the second edition of the Legal & General Group Protection Chief Medical Officer Report, to find out more about how Group Income Protection can help break down some of the barriers to equity and inclusion.