|
| Theme | Sample of participant quotes to illustrate the themea |
|
| Rural cancer patients |
| (1) Unable to work due to the cancer diagnosis and treatment schedule | “Daily radiation prevented me from working. The cancer itself stopped me from working due to recovery after surgery and extra treatments and appointments” (#346, administration, no manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
| “Receiving daily treatments for 6 weeks. I was unable to work for duration of treatment. I have been unable to work since surgery either” (#287, administration, no manual labour, and aged 30–39) |
| “I retired from work when I got sick… I do not feel fit enough to have full-time work.” (#64, farming, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
|
| (2) Unable to work due to being away from home for cancer treatment | “Being 2.5 hours away I was not able to work during treatment” (#466, retail, no manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
| “I couldn’t work [while receiving treatment] as I was a fly in fly out worker” (#564, industry unknown, and aged 40–49) |
| “Self-employed farmer… absent from work” (#297, farming, manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
| “I have to take four days a fortnight off to travel and receive treatment.” (#101, infrastructure, manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
| “Limited access to work by having to drive to and from home to the lodge. Additional leave needed when treatments were delayed or when appointments changed or went over time.” (#102, industry unknown, and aged 40–49) |
| “Lose work time for travel and treatment, generally three days” (#320, infrastructure, manual labour, and aged 70–79) |
| “More sick days off work than the normal person to attend appointments” (#241, health, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
|
| (3) Reduced ability to work after cancer treatment due to decline in physical health | “I seem to be very tired after treatment and have also lost conditioning so am unable to physically do what I once did.” (#544, administration, manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
| “I work on a farm – I can’t lift weights I used to or sit in a tractor for long periods of time, and I certainly can’t work in the cattle yards.” (#465, farming, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “I am constantly tired and have difficulty concentrating plus poor memory recall.” (#548, administration, no manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
| “Can only work 3 hours. Soon I get dizzy. Have headaches.” (#256, retail, manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
|
| (4) Support from employer for changes to work | “My employer has been fantastic in letting me have extended periods off work for treatment.” (#115, industry unknown, and aged 50–59) |
| “At present I am only able to work 3.5 hours per week. I am gradually building up these hours.” (#506, education, no manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
| “I only travel into my office 2 days per week – I work from home the rest of the week” (#46, administration, no manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “I got exhausted very quickly. I am on a return-to-work plan with my employer. I am not working on the day after my immunotherapy treatments.” (#463, education, no manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “Agreed on a return-to-work plan with doctor and boss – modified work conditions. No heavy lifting.” (#481, infrastructure, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
|
| Rural caregivers |
| (1) Unable to work due to being away from home for treatment | “I work in a remote community, so I was unable to work during my stay.” (#566, industry unknown, and aged 50–59) |
| “I work in a hospital—I have been unable to return to that work.” (#653, health, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “My work was 1600 kms away while I was at the lodge to support my daughter.” (#788, education, no manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
|
| (2) Financial stress due to loss of income | “Many of the issues involving feelings of helplessness are due more to financial worries rather than my wife’s cancer (she is about to lose her income protection and is not yet fit to return to work).” (#591, creative arts, no manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “Eight months without income is extremely hard. Bills keep on coming, food needs to be bought, rates paid, etc.” (#588, industry unknown, and aged 60–69) |
| “I haven’t worked for six months because I am caring for my husband. We are living off our savings which are dwindling.” (#653, health, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “Being self-employed and travelling back and forth to the city disrupted and possibly lost me work at times, so financially it costs extra for food in the city and buses, taxis, trains, etc. However, we have been so grateful for the accommodation at the lodge, as we were staying at motels before we found out about the lodges.” (#607, infrastructure, manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
|
| (3) Limited support with finances or returning to work | “Having never dealt with Centrelink, I can’t figure it out. Pages of forms, no-one will answer the phone. Waiting for ages to speak to someone to be told nothing…. I have given up. It is enough to deal with my husband slowly deteriorating… Having a person at the Cancer Council to assist with navigating the very confusing process would’ve been amazing.” (#653, health, manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “I am back at work but it’s not a normal situation, working on call, no family support due to the area. Being segregated from my wife during treatment has been extremely difficult. Support for the caregiver at home is very limited and support in general has been limited.” (#612, infrastructure, no manual labour, and aged 40–49) |
|
| (4) Minimal disruptions to employment due to flexible work or lower caregiver burden | “I am self-employed and used my computer and the Internet – I was able to continue working while staying at the lodge.” (#591, creative arts, no manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “It is a small disruption to routine, and I take the laptop with me.” (#764, administration, no manual labour, and aged 50–59) |
| “I own and operate a corporate mentoring company. If I didn’t have understanding clients, I would have struggled” (#603, administration, no manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
| “I was only down there [at the lodge] a couple of days per week supporting my wife, so it wasn’t a big deal work wise.” (#765, farming, manual labour, and aged 60–69) |
|
