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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 May 1;32(5):266.
doi: 10.3390/curroncol32050266.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of iCanWork: Theory-Guided Return-to-Work Intervention for Individuals Touched by Cancer

Christine Maheu  1 , Maureen Parkinson  2 , Kyla Johnson  3 , Wing Lam Tock  4   5 , Naomi Dolgoy  6 , Simon-Pierre Dupuis  7 , Mina Singh  8
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of iCanWork: Theory-Guided Return-to-Work Intervention for Individuals Touched by Cancer

Christine Maheu et al. Curr Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Recent systematic reviews report a limited number of return-to-work (RTW) interventions for individuals touched by cancer (ITBC), with many falling short in effectiveness and lacking an integrated work-health approach. In response, iCanWork-a theoretically informed, multidisciplinary RTW intervention integrating vocational rehabilitation (VR) and occupational therapy (OT)-was conceptualized and developed to address the gap identified in recent reviews for robust, work-health-focused RTW interventions.

Methods: A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary work-related outcomes of the iCanWork intervention among 23 ITBC participants randomized to either the intervention or control group. Feasibility was assessed through recruitment, retention, and engagement benchmarks; acceptability was measured using a participant satisfaction survey. Preliminary work-health-related outcomes included RTW status, work ability index (WAI) scores, and health-related quality of life (QoL) domains.

Results: Feasibility benchmarks were achieved, with 92% recruitment, 83% retention, and 100% completing at least one VR session. Adherence to the session delivery benchmarks was met by 75% of participants before RTW and 41.7% after RTW. Participants rated the intervention highly for its tailored and supportive approach. Compared to the control group, the iCanWork group showed modest improvements in RTW status, WAI scores (mean change: +2.54), and QoL domains, including fatigue, social roles, and pain interference. Given the small sample size, these exploratory findings should be interpreted as preliminary signals to inform outcome selection for a future trial.

Conclusions: iCanWork is a feasible and acceptable RTW intervention for ITBC with early indications of benefit. These findings inform the design and outcome selection for a future, larger trial aimed at evaluating the intervention's potential to improve RTW outcomes for ITBC.

Keywords: cancer survivorship; feasibility trial; individuals touched by cancer (ITBC); occupational therapy (OT); return to work (RTW); vocational rehabilitation (VR); work ability index (WAI).

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors acknowledge having no conflicts of interest to declare. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, or analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cancer and work: four factors vocational rehabilitation model for individuals living with cancer. Note: Revised from the original model, “Vocational Rehabilitation Model for Cancer Survivors” [22].
Figure 2
Figure 2
CONSORT flow diagram.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean WAI score at T1 and T2 (higher score indicates better work functioning).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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