Cancer, Bereavement and Work

Book chapter

Martin, N. (2021). Cancer, Bereavement and Work. in: Brown, N. (ed.) Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education Bristol Bristol University Press.
AuthorsMartin, N.
EditorsBrown, N.
Abstract

This chapter is an autoethnographic account of losing my twenty-five-year-old son, John, to cancer, returning to work, getting cancer myself and returning to work again after treatment. I do not claim to represent anyone else’s cancer story. Lifesaving interventions left me with some residual physical limitations and compounded psychological impacts arising because I got better when John did not. I tend to minimise my own sickness. Work was more closely aligned to my identity before I acquired the unwanted ‘bereaved mother/cancer survivor’ tag. I consider social and personal construction of identity and sense of self after intersecting traumas. Reflecting on the role my employment plays in my life now, I consider strategies I adopt and ways my employer helps me to function and contribute effectively. Potential usefulness of The Equality Act (2010) and workplace bereavement leave policies is discussed in relation to employees directly or indirectly affected by cancer.

Year2021
Book titleLived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education
PublisherBristol University Press
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Open
Place of publicationBristol
ISBN978-1447354116
Publication dates
Print25 May 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited08 Dec 2020
Web address (URL)https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/lived-experiences-of-ableism-in-academia
Additional information

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion in Higher Education. Details of the definitive published version and how to purchase it are available online at: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/lived-experiences-of-abl...

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