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Normal is good!
Well-meaning comments can sometimes inadvertently cause distress or pressure. While empathy is crucial, maintaining a sense of professional normalcy is a powerful form of support.
Don’t over-compensate: Don’t treat them as if they are suddenly fragile or incapable of doing their job. Stripping away all their responsibilities without asking can damage their sense of identity and agency.
Include them in standard work banter, project updates, and office jokes as you normally would, unless they’ve asked for total quiet. Let them choose whether to engage.
Try not to greet them with a constant expression of intense pity. A warm, normal smile is often much more grounding.
There is evidence to support the idea that normal is good
In a 2025 study, Eklund et al concluded that
“While undergoing curative cancer therapy, striving for work–life balance and a normal life is challenging but necessary for wellbeing. Our study findings suggest that a work-oriented intervention tailored to individual needs, flexibility in working conditions, and cooperation between the employee and various stakeholders are warranted during the early stage of cancer therapy.”
You can read the whole study at
Eklund L, Engström M, de Boer AGEM, Bejerholm U, Fjell M, Fessé P, Trygged S, Efverman A. Work-related experiences and needs while undergoing curative cancer therapy: exploring the target population’s perspective during the developmental phase of a work-oriented intervention. Support Care Cancer. 2025 Jun 17;33(7):589. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09624-1. PMID: 40523991; PMCID: PMC12170720.
Click on the title of the article to read the whole study or read a summary below:
This study looked at what it is like for people to balance their jobs while going through cancer treatments aimed at curing them (like chemotherapy or radiation). The researchers interviewed 22 workers in Sweden who were being treated for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer.
The main takeaway is that trying to balance work, home life, and cancer treatment is a major challenge, but staying connected to work is incredibly important for a person’s mental wellbeing and sense of self.
5 Key Findings from the Patient Interviews
The researchers broke down the participants’ experiences into five main areas:
1. Work keeps a sense of “normal life” alive
For many, working meant they weren’t just a “cancer patient”. It allowed them to maintain their normal roles as professionals and colleagues, keep up daily routines, and continue contributing to their families. Some even felt so strongly about this that they “secretly” did some work while on full-time sick leave.
2. Patients are generally positive about their future work life
Despite their current struggles and lower energy, most participants felt confident that they would fully return to work in the future. They did, however, have normal worries about potential long-term side effects—like fatigue, physical limitations, or managing a stoma.
3. Finding a new balance is a “juggling act”
Going to treatments, traveling to hospitals, and dealing with extreme exhaustion meant patients had to completely rearrange their priorities. Balancing how much to work versus how much time to take off as sick leave was described as a stressful balancing act.
4. Flexible hours are a double-edged sword
Being able to work from home or set flexible hours was a huge help for people with office-type jobs. However, the study found a surprising downside: sometimes flexibility caused people to push themselves too hard. Because they could work from their computers, some people didn’t take the sick leave they actually needed and ended up completely drained. Workers in hands-on fields like education and healthcare had much less flexibility and worried more about exhaustion and infection risks.
5. Individualised support is desperately needed
When employers, coworkers, and doctors worked together to help the patient, it made a massive difference. On the flip side, navigating confusing sick leave rules alone caused loneliness and stress. Patients noted that doctors sometimes wrote full-time sick leave notes automatically without actually asking the patient if they wanted to try working part-time with adjusted duties.
Why This Matters
The ultimate goal of this research is to help design better support programs (“interventions”) for people right at the start of their cancer journey.
The authors conclude that support shouldn’t wait until treatments are over. Instead, workplaces, healthcare systems, and insurance agencies need to communicate early on to offer flexible, person-centred support that adapts to how a patient is feeling day-by-day.
As a Cancer United Business, this is a goal shared by your organisation.
