In the UK, one in two people will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. This equates to around 1,000 people per day being diagnosed with cancer. Of those, 36% are of working age. This means that there are an awful lot of employees navigating their diagnosis, treatment, and life beyond cancer whilst still employed and/or going to work.

As an employer, raising awareness of cancer should be just as important as supporting employees with cancer after they receive a diagnosis. By adopting a proactive cancer awareness strategy, you’ll create a more inclusive and understanding workplace culture, and demonstrate to your employees that you care about their wellbeing and value them as individuals.

If you are unsure of the best way to raise awareness of cancer in the workplace, this guide has some useful suggestions that will also help foster discussion, improve employee understanding of risk factors and promote a supportive environment for all staff affected by cancer.

Advocate for good overall employee wellbeing

Many factors contribute to an individual’s risk of cancer such as their age, family health history and lifestyle. In the UK, around 38% of cancer cases (135,000 per year) are preventable.

The leading causes of preventable cancer include alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, UV radiation exposure and a diet with too little fibre. As an employer, you can provide information about the main risk factors of cancer and introduce initiatives that contribute to overall better employee health. Examples include:

Educating employees about risk factors through workshops, webinars, and other communications
Encouraging exercise through subsidised gym memberships, cycle to work schemes and workplace activities and equipment
Involving your workplace in quit smoking campaigns
Facilitating routine employee health screenings

Connect employees to cancer information sources

Cancer not only affects those who get diagnosed but also their family, friends, and colleagues. This means that there is a high chance that an employee will have questions about cancer, although they may not know where to turn for answers. It can also be a concern for those who have noticed changes to their health but aren’t sure of what steps to take to address them. You can help your employees by directing them to reliable sources of information about cancer, the different types, symptoms and treatment.

The NHS website is an excellent resource and many charities have a wealth of free information and support available including Cancer Research, Macmillan and Marie Curie. Most types of cancer also have a specialised charity or organisation that provides more specific information such as Bowel Cancer UK and Breast Cancer Now.

Make employees aware of available health benefits

Health benefits can enable employees to get symptoms checked and receive an early diagnosis, but they are often underutilised simply because employees don’t know enough about what workplace benefits are available or how to access the services.

Ensure all employees know about any health benefit entitlements and provide straightforward guidance on how they utilise this support.

If your workplace doesn’t already offer an employee health benefits package, consider implementing one that covers physical, mental and financial aspects of health and/or specialised cancer support.

Provide training

86% of line managers state they haven’t received any training on how to support staff with long-term conditions including cancer. You can help ensure that all employees, including senior management, are well informed about supporting those with cancer by organising cancer awareness training.

If you don’t feel this be done effectively in-house, there are organisations that can deliver training in person or online such as Cancer Research and Macmillan at Work.

Take part in fundraising and events

By your business participating in fundraising efforts and hosting events, you can create more discussion about cancer and help raise money for charities too. There are national events that take place every year such as:

However, you can also get employees involved further by planning your own fundraisers. Perhaps, for instance, your workplace could raise money for a charity that researches a type of cancer that a coworker has been impacted by or donate to a local support centre that has helped an employee and their family throughout their treatment. The possibilities for cancer awareness and fundraising events are near-on endless but ideas include such things as:

24-hour event
Workplace quiz
Raffle
Sponsored walk
Craft market
Silent auction
Gala
Bake sale

In summary, raising awareness of cancer in the workplace should be multi-faceted. Approaches should be well-considered to ensure that they provide accurate information in a sensitive manner. Moreover, there should be a focus on employee wellbeing, acknowledging that cancer affects individuals and their wider social circle physically, emotionally, and financially and so any support should encompass all of these factors too.