Trying to Find Work With A Cancer Diagnosis? Astriid Can Help.

It was at a Macmillan event where I met a young woman, a millennial, who had little choice but to discontinue her job as an air hostess following her diagnosis with cancer. Her experience as customer service exec over years from a young age meant a life packed with exciting opportunities.

.... little did I know that not only cancer would rob me off my health but also my self-confidence!

The disappointment ensuing a shortened career is equally distressing if not more, than the struggle with cancer.

As per the survey conducted by Macmillan in 2015 revealed - every year 100,000 working people are diagnosed with cancer. The trauma of coping with cancer while living with the uncertainty of life after treatment is worrying for most patients. It is important to know that return-to-work accelerates recovery!

As NHS is ever increasingly burdened with costs and is understaffed, and few businesses have a recruitment strategy in place for people who are on a treatment plan and in-between treatments. This puts significant onus on technology and society to find a solution to manage this situation more pragmatically.

With technology companies like Google, Apple and Amazon trying to explore opportunities into the healthcare landscape based on the latest trends such as,

• AI which is getting increasingly sophisticated at doing what humans do, but more efficiently, more quickly and at a lower cost of healthcare
• Internet of things (IoT) has opened up a world of possibilities in medicine: when connected to the internet, ordinary medical devices can collect invaluable additional data, give extra insight into symptoms and trends, enable remote care, and generally give patients more control over their lives and treatment.
• AR/ VR have already begun making inroads into surgical suits, medical training, doctor's offices, and home care situations
• Telemedicine used in remote delivery of healthcare services, such as health assessments or consultations over the telecommunications infrastructure.
• Drones to facilitate the delivery of medicines to remote areas and with greater predictability

All of these potentially reduce the number of appointments to physically see the GP and help the patients to take preventive measures as doctors have direct access to basic and vital information that needs to be monitored regularly, we can hope for a better coping mechanism of long-term conditions in near future.

These innovations and possibilities will positively increase our chances of recovery and battling long -term health conditions, but businesses are yet to react and provide the possible scenarios for the financial and emotional sustenance of people during and after treatment at a broader scale and sustainable level.

Aspirational people aim to accomplish their dreams they have nurtured over years and spend years to build them.

The opportunity to pick up life after diagnosis/ treatments and be sure of possibilities that will allow them to contribute their skills until they decide to give up can be enabled by building communities and leveraging technology.

Work is a positive distraction and brings multitude of benefits.

• Makes life financially sustainable
• Helps one to be part of the society
• Accelerates recovery process

We at Astriid - a charity since its inception in 2016, have been involved in creating awareness and inspiring businesses to create opportunities for people suffering with long-term health conditions. Progressive thinking companies can be part of the healthcare ecosystem by

• Creation of flexible roles and work environments
• Revamping their recruitment strategy that will shape the future of work
• Focusing on equality, diversity and inclusion

It is logical that businesses are set up to make profits and by demonstrating greater social responsibility they can chalk out solutions and be trailblazers for others. Our stakeholders are companies and members registered on our website. As the prognosis is unpredictable, ideally full-time roles would not be an option, instead flexible roles that need few hours would greatly benefit our members.

We would look forward to companies signing up at www.astriid.org.uk and posting jobs that will give a new lease of life to our invisible talent pool.