La fatigue
Authors:
Dr. Christine Maheu, RN, PhD ,
Ms. Rosemary Cashman ,
Kyla Johnson, Occupational Therapist, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital ,
Ms. Maureen Parkinson, Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellor, M.Ed. C.C.R.C, BC CancerDr. Christine Maheu, RN, PhD
Dr. Christine Maheu is an Associate Professor in the Ingram School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. Dr. Maheu is also an Affiliate Scientist at the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. At McGill University, she teaches research methods, supervises graduate students (masters, doctoral, post-doctoral), mentors practicing nurses and students in research, and conducts research in English and French. She has held research awards with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. These awards funded her research in psychosocial oncology, which focuses on developing and testing psychosocial interventions or measurements tools for various cancer populations. Additionally, in partnership with Ipsos Canada and funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, she is co-leading a nationwide survey of the needs of cancer patients for transition care from the end of their treatment to three years after their diagnosis. Dr. Maheu received awards for excellence in nursing research (2013, 2015, 2016) from Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, and the Quebec Association of Nurses in Oncology.
View all Cancer and Work team members
Ms. Rosemary Cashman
Ms. Rosemary Cashman is a nurse practitioner at the BC Cancer Agency and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Her professional experience includes the care of lymphoma, lung cancer and brain cancer patients. She co-chairs the Patient and Family Advisory Council, which guides the brain tumour care program at the BC Cancer Agency. She has authored book chapters and articles related to the care of brain tumour patients and their families. Ms. Cashman was involved in developing and implementing a rapid-access radiotherapy clinic for the palliative treatment of lung cancer and she continues to work in this clinic.
View all advisory board members and expert writers
Kyla Johnson, Occupational Therapist, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital
Ms. Kyla Johnson, M.Sc.A., originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Kyla Johnson works as an Occupational Therapist at the Segal Cancer Center of the Jewish General Hospital. She holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from McGill University. Her goal as a rehabilitation professional in Oncology is to enable people with cancer to be able to do what they want and need to do, in all stages of their cancer experience. Kyla helps develop strategies and accommodations to facilitate a return to meaningful life roles, including work. She is specialized in cancer-related cognitive dysfunction and runs a weekly group teaching strategies to improve daily cognitive functioning. Kyla also leads a volunteer yoga class for young adults with cancer. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.
View all advisory board members and expert writers
Ms. Maureen Parkinson, Vocational Rehabilitation Counsellor, M.Ed. C.C.R.C, BC Cancer
Ms. Maureen Parkinson is the province-wide vocational rehabilitation counsellor at the BC Cancer Agency. She has also been vocational rehabilitation counsellor at a public rehabilitation hospital and vocational rehabilitation consultant to insurance companies and the court system. She has instructed and facilitated Service-Canada-funded programs on job searching and career exploration. Ms. Parkinson has a Masters in Counselling Psychology, is a Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor, and completed the Certified Return to Work Coordinator Program through the National Institute for Disability Management and Research. She has developed return-to-work and job-search seminars for cancer patients and created the guidebook “Cancer and Returning to Work: A Practical Guide for Cancer Patients” as well as on-line articles about returning to work and school. She also co-authored a paper commissioned by the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, “Cancer and Work: A Canadian Perspective”.
View all Cancer and Work team members
La fatigue touche de 50 % à 90 % des survivants du cancer, tant pendant le traitement que par la suite, . Elle peut aussi subsister longtemps par la suite (chez 30 % environ des survivants). La fatigue liée au cancer créée une sensation d’épuisement contre laquelle le repos ne peut rien, très différente de ce que la personne atteinte a connu avant la maladie. Elle peut constituer un obstacle à l’accomplissement des tâches quotidiennes. Bien que sa cause exacte reste obscure, divers facteurs y contribuent indéniablement, comme le cancer lui-même, les traitements et leurs effets secondaires, l’anémie, le déconditionnement, la malnutrition, les troubles métaboliques, l’hypothyroïdie, l’anxiété et la dépression. La fatigue physique peut s’amplifier jusqu’à provoquer une fatigue mentale.
Conséquences sur le travail
Des études démontrent que le retour au travail peut être difficile pour les survivants du cancer, surtout lorsque leurs tâches sont exigeantes sur le plan physique. S’il s’agit de postes dans lesquels la sécurité est un enjeu (p. ex. opérateur de machinerie), il est impératif de contrôler et de surveiller la fatigue pour éviter les accidents et les blessures. Il se peut que les survivants aient besoin de multiplier les pauses ou de raccourcir les quarts de travail jusqu’à ce que le problème soit réglé.
Une évaluation des lieux et des postes de travail pourra être effectuée par des physiothérapeutes et des ergothérapeutes, capables de recommander des stratégies pour atténuer la fatigue liée au cancer.
Étape suivante :
L’adaptation du lieu de travail en fonction de la fatigue
