An Explanatory Study of support/commitment of others which Childhood and Adolescent/Young Adult Cancer Survivor evaluate as helpful during Job-seeking.

Abstract

 The aim of this study was to explore what kind of support or commitment of other people during their job-seeking process is evaluated as helpful by childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, paying particular attention to support resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 survivors, and the data of 14 participants who gave us permission to record them were analyzed using a qualitative method. As a result, five categories of support were classified as helpful, namely ; “Offering medical findings about survivors' current condition and future prospects,” “Counseling about the selection system and career path of survivors and assistance in organizing thoughts about employment,” “Provision of information from professionals on placements for survivors' career choice,” “Provision of advice and training on writing a curriculum vitae,” and “Listening to survivors' worries and encouragement for job seeking.” These findings showed that survivors evaluate not only support, which healthy students evaluate as helpful, but also help from doctors and career counselors with expertise in job seeking for students with illnesses and disabilities relating to illness experiences. It was also suggested that factors related to the illness experience were included in the listening to survivors' worries and encouragement for job seeking. Based on these findings, we concluded that there was need for hiring staff with expertise in job-hunting section, and that doctors and peer support groups play a huge role in job-seeking support.