AIA Australia has launched a return to wellness program for cancer patients under a new partnership with a global reinsurer and Australian occupational rehabilitation services provider.
As part of the new initiative – titled RESTORE CaRe Positivum – AIA Australia has joined with Swiss Re and rehabilitation services provider IPAR to run a pilot program with 100 members of REST Industry Super to assist them in moving from the treatment phase of cancer back to wellness.
The program will focus on overcoming barriers that prevent cancer patients from returning to wellness and will use AIA Australia’s mental health program RESTORE CaRe as a base. It will add in IPAR’s wellness coaching model Positivum and will also build on experience gained by Swiss Re in delivering a rehabilitation service in the United Kingdom.
“We provide strategies and expert advice… to support these members back to wellness…”
AIA Australia and New Zealand Chief Exectuive, Damien Mu said the combined knowledge and practical experience of the program’s partners would address the holistic needs of cancer patients in developing wellness and work readiness.
“Our partners and their members have told us that it is often a big adjustment transitioning from the active stage of cancer treatment back into a normal routine,” Mu said.
“When medical support suddenly ceases, the person recovering from cancer often struggles to return to a normal life. Many are left with fatigue, ‘chemo fog’, deconditioning, and sometimes depression and anxiety. We provide strategies and expert advice to minimise these symptoms and to support these members back to wellness and eventually to work,” he added.
“Previous research on our RESTORE program conducted in 2014 revealed some remarkable results: 84 per cent of participants improved their wellness, 86 per cent reported improved symptom management and 50 per cent recovered and returned to work from the three-month program. We are confident that the RESTORE CaRe Positivum research will be equally successful,” Mu said.
