Education & Employment:
Getting back into work and education after treatment can depend on on your situation and the treatment and follow up care required. You may:
- stop working for a while, until you feel ready to go back
- carry on working, perhaps with reduced hours or changes to your job
- want to change jobs or careers
- stop working because of your health
- stop working because you want to focus on other parts of your life.
- You may have deferred a college or university course at diagnosis and wish to return or change courses completely
You may enjoy work because of the sense of normality and routine. Or it may be essential for your finances. You may also have friends at work that are very important to you. Everyone is different and it is normal to have mixed feelings about working after treatment.
You may decide to return to the kind of work you did before, but with a different employer. Or you may want a change of career or decide you want to go to university. There are laws about what you have to tell a new employer about your health history / your cancer diagnosis. When you prepare for an interview, you might want to think about how you will answer any questions about your health. In order to help with all of these things the Survivorship Service developed the Boost Programme.
BOOST has since been rolled out to all five counties of the East Midlands serving young people locally in partnership with Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln, Northampton and Derby College. Within each college there is a team of BOOST specialists, trained via the Survivorship CNS in supporting young people after cancer. BOOST referrals are made directly to the appropriate team incorporating the patient’s individual needs and obstacles to moving forward with their career or education. Patients are then contacted by a BOOST specialist and met with either face to face or virtually to discuss the patient’s aspirations and formulate a plan of action, on-going support is also provided if required.
· Identifying a new career path
· Overcoming personal obstacles
· Planning achievable steps to reach long term goals
· Course Identification and Application
· Local Job Searching
· Interview Preparation
· CV Writing
· Tailored specialist post treatment careers advice
· Financial Support
