Our online survey, conducted between September 24th and October 7th, 2019 by Wakefield Research, was designed to determine if workers feel prepared and empowered to support their colleagues with a serious medical condition and if they believe management is providing the right resources and guidance.

Survey findings overall demonstrated a need to better equip co-workers and management to support those living with serious and/or chronic medical conditions. Here are a few key highlights:

A vast majority of American working adults (88%) have concerns about their ability to support a co-worker with a serious and/or chronic medical condition such as cancer.

• Among respondents who have concerns, the most common is how much or what kind of emotional support to offer (69%), followed by how much to ask about their coworker’s medical condition/status (59%) and what kind of work-related help to offer (51%).

Spotlight on Cancer

Cancer seems to increase the level of complexity: More of those who currently work/have worked with someone diagnosed with cancer have concerns – 90% compared with 78% who have not worked with someone with cancer.

• Of those who currently work/have worked with someone diagnosed with cancer, 54% were unsure how much to ask about their medical condition status, compared with 41% of those who have not worked with someone diagnosed with cancer.
• Additionally, 62% of respondents who currently work/have worked with someone diagnosed with cancer were unsure what kind of emotional support to offer, as compared with 54% of those who have not worked with someone with cancer.
• Of those workers who had worked with someone diagnosed with cancer, 90% believed that management could have done more to be more supportive.
• Of those who had worked with someone diagnosed with cancer, 16% reported that the way these colleagues were managed made them less loyal toward their company.

For more details on survey results and methodology, click here to view our full press release.