Language / La langue: 
Vous êtes ici:   Cancer et travail

Employeurs Les répercussions du cancer sur le travail Les changements d’humeur

Les changements d’humeur

Dr. 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


Un diagnostic de cancer peut avoir un effet profond sur les sentiments, les rôles et les relations, les finances et la santé mentale et physique. Le cancer peut être une expérience qui change vraiment la vie et amène les gens à voir leurs priorités sous un nouveau jour. Cette nouvelle façon de voir la vie peut apporter des changements positifs mais peut aussi être perturbatrice et douloureuse. Il est courant que les personnes atteintes de cancer se sentent angoissées, anxieuses et tristes.

La difficulté à faire face au diagnostic et au traitement du cancer peut être aggravée par d’autres facteurs de stress de la vie, tels que la dynamique familiale, les problèmes financiers et les défis professionnels. Le stress non géré peut avoir un effet négatif sur la santé, notamment :

  • augmentation de la pression artérielle
  • rythme cardiaque plus rapide
  • diminution de la digestion
  • augmentation de la tension musculaire
  • niveaux plus élevés d’hormones de stress comme l’adrénaline qui peuvent altérer la fonction immunitaire

implications professionnelles

Pour les survivants du cancer, le retour au travail peut apporter des émotions mitigées – le soulagement que la vie soit redevenue « normale », la peur et l’anxiété quant à la façon dont les collègues se comporteront avec eux ou l’incertitude quant à la façon dont ils géreront leurs responsabilités ou leurs sentiments au travail.

Prochaines étapes :

Lire les aménagements de travail spécifiques pour les changements d’humeur