All authors participated in data analysis. https://www.arboportaal.nl/onderwerpen/wet-verbetering-poortwachter. Your privacy choices/Manage cookies we use in the preference centre. A. R. Bosma. Next, data was searched for similarities and discrepancies, and ultimately grouping and combining codes into subthemes in an iterative manner. In order to reduce the threshold for employers and employees to seek support from them, several OPs mentioned making regular visits to the workplace. More extensively enforcing compliance to this legislation can however be helpful for achieving the change to a preventive approach. J Occup Rehabil. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. The focus groups started with some information on the personal background of the researcher. Detaille SI, van der Gulden JWJ, Engels JA, Heerkens YF, van Dijk FJH. Some organizational representatives felt irritated about the defensive or in other cases passive attitude on the part of the OP. Allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and mental illness are just a few conditions that can regularly and significantly disrupt work life and your business. During both focus groups, an observer was present to assist the moderator with monitoring group interaction and taking notes. - the example of German occupational health physicians in the rehabilitation process: a qualitative study. organizational representatives feelings of OPs being on the side of employees. Moving towards more selective or indicated prevention requires changes within organizations as well as occupational health care. Some of the most common health issues among the workplace are the common cold and the flu. Even routine office work can cause or worsen back pain. However, organizational support is not always provided and the support that is offered may not always meet employees needs. Staying at work is important for both physical and mental wellbeing and contributes to one's quality of life [ 1, 2 ]. Aims To identify the practical and psychosocial barriers recognized by employees with chronic disease who experience work-related problems and to examine preferred work accommodations. No nagging about that. (Occupational physician). The Medical Ethics Review Committee of the VU University Medical Center determined that an ethical approval was not required because the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (Wet Medisch-wetenschappelijk Onderzoek met mensen) does not apply to this study. In some cases, everything is out in the open, and the relationship between manager and employee is just fine, so then it is clear. Supporting employees with chronic conditions to stay at work: perspectives of occupational health professionals and organizational representatives. Harassment. For this study, qualitative research methods were used to capture the perspectives of different stakeholders in the work environment on barriers to and opportunities for improvement of support. How Organizations Can Support Employees with Chronic Health Conditions The semi-structured interviews were held at the organizational representatives work locations and were also conducted by the primary researcher (AB), with no observer present. 2003;46(3):1307. She is the longtime president of the American . $117 BILLION in annual health care costs are related to low physical activity. Some people with these conditions are in so much pain they can't work, while others continue to work full-time. 2016;38(6):56672. European Chronic Diseases Alliance. In this context, OPs facilitate sustainable employment by providing employees and employers with support and advice related to work and health [10]. This requires OPs to make their role clear to supervisors, human resources managers, and employees, and to show to the organization their added value in preventing work-related problems. Work, Stress, and Health & Socioeconomic Status However, the role of OPs in preventing work-related problems and promoting sustainable work participation remains relatively small, as they are still mostly dealing with employees with existing problems or cases of absenteeism [12, 13]. 2016;73(2):150-158. An organizational representative of a small organization explained the difficulty he had with understanding the complex rules and regulations when starting the company. Aside from OPs, organizational representatives (e.g. When participants agreed to participate, a date and time was set at the convenience of the participants. Second, a relatively small number of OPs and organizational representatives worked for small- and medium-sized organizations. This exceeds the number of people with cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined. The Pain at Work Toolkit for Employees with Chronic or Persistent Pain I cant see the customers I want to see because my back is killing me. Our study identified several barriers to provide support in the work environment, e.g. CDC's NCCDPHP believes that all people should have the fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest life. Well, we now have such a nice new amendment of the labor legislation, which states that occupational physicians must be provided with more time for prevention. 2016. https://www.ser.nl/~/media/db_adviezen/2010_2019/2016/werken-chronische-ziekte.ashx. de Jong M, de Boer AGEM, Tamminga SJ, Frings-Dresen MHW. Google Scholar. Werk: van belang voor iedereen - Een advies over werken met een chronische ziekte. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2019.1631801. In contrast to employers, many employees with chronic conditions have the impression that OPs mostly represent the interest of the employer [6]. The Challenges of Chronic Health Conditions at Work In our recent research, my colleagues and I found that conflicts between work and health management are common for workers with. BMC Public Health. Work (Reading, Mass). The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were used when designing and reporting the study (Supplementary file1) [22]. Barriers were identified at the organizational level (negative organizational attitudes towards employees with chronic conditions), the employee level (employees reluctance to collaborate with employers in dealing with work-related problems) and in the collaboration between OPs and organizational representatives. First, of the approximately 140 CME groups in the Netherlands, we only used two CME groups for a focus group session. Although in the Netherlands, the health care sector is not responsible for occupational health care, OPs described several aspects within the broader health care system that could improve the prevention of work-related problems. The authors would like to thank all OPs and organizational representatives who participated in this study. OPs indicated that, to ensure the embedding of prevention in occupational health care, they have to practice what they preach and negotiate the allocation of preventive tasks in their contracts. Yet, many leaders report feeling uncomfortable or ill-prepared to discuss chronic pain and pain disability with their employees, and employees themselves may also feel reluctant to talk about it due to the fear of stigmatization, discrimination, or job loss. They point out that when things were stored on the floor, employees often bend down to pick them up. Organizational representatives indicated that they only occasionally refer employees to a preventive consultation with their OP in order to obtain advice on preventing work-related problems in the future. Unfortunately, many occupations such as nursing, construction and factory work can place significant demands on your back. As no new themes emerged at the end of data collection, it was concluded that data saturation was achieved. a lack of OPs visibility and a lack of utilization of OPs support. Several organizational representatives described their difficulties with supporting employees who were not willing to cooperate or to take responsibility for dealing with their chronic condition at work. I have never really thought about it [preventively referring employees]. As a result, chronic pain is associated with increased absence, decrements in job performance, concentration problems, physical limits and displays of impatience toward coworkers and customers. The return on prevention: Calculating the costs and benefits of investments in occupational safety and health in companies. However, these guidelines focus mostly on return to work instead of preventing work-related problems. Cookies policy. For instance, thanks to skill variety, Raj, a salesperson working in the pharmaceutical industry could still do his job even when he was unable to travel for work because of pain. for implementing necessary accommodations. Article Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig J. Preventing work-related problems by providing preventive support can facilitate sustainable employment for employees with chronic conditions, as well as lower employers financial burden due to sickness absence. An aging workforce, extended work hours, and demanding jobs as well as pain caused by long Covid and limited treatment during the pandemic all suggest that chronic pain at work will become even more common, and important to manage, in the future. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09901-2. Two organizational representatives worked at the same organization. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-016-9670-1. He noted, I cancel some of my appointments, [but] I dont call in sick. Often, workplaces can be the source of chronic pain. The focus groups were moderated by the primary researcher (AB), a female health scientist with experience in qualitative research. Moreover, some organizational representatives indicated that they perceived a lack of necessary skills to adequately guide employees with the process of acceptance. Our earlier studies among employees with chronic conditions already showed the importance of disclosure and employees expressing their needs to enable them to stay at work [6]. Available from: https://nvab-online.nl/organisatie-missie-visie. Prevention in organizations and occupational health care remains difficult, despite the available expertise of OPs on work and health [46]. Work (Reading, Mass). Organizations awareness of the benefits of preventing work-related problems and preventive support would make it more feasible for OPs to expand their preventive duties. Staying at work is important for both physical and mental wellbeing and contributes to ones quality of life [1, 2]. Bosma A, Boot CRL, de Maaker M, Boeije HR, Schoonmade LJ, Anema JR, et al. Health Insurance Paid Vacation Remote Work Opportunities Dental Insurance 401k With Matching Vision Insurance Promote From Within Flexible Work Hours Personal Sick Days Performance Bonus 2015;51(2):22937. No feedback or additional comments were received from the focus group participants. J Occup Rehabil. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Besides generous benefits packages, resources such as pain support groups in the workplace or purchasing ergonomic furniture can make a big difference. OPs explained that employees with chronic conditions often visit them only after problems have arisen, making it more difficult to provide preventive support. Jobs that involved heavy lifting, standing all day, or working in awkward positions can cause or exacerbate pain. Good collaboration and communication between employers and OPs can optimize service provision. By making OPs an essential part of this organizational-change intervention, their visibility will improve. Health Education Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges 2018;18(1):769. Employees non-disclosure was mentioned by several organizational representatives as an important barrier to provide support, as this complicated communication between them. Summaries of the focus groups, with the main findings on the discussed topics, were made and sent to all participants for member-checking (i.e. She is Jewish and openly gay she's married to a rabbi and lives in Upper Manhattan. Overall, our research suggests that performance is largely unaffected by remote work, and some aspects of work such as collaboration are actually enhanced when working at home. Our findings provided input for the development of an organizational-level intervention to improve support. In addition, some OPs and organizational representatives spoke of the current shortage of available OP capacity. In addition, OPs described that many employees persist in their idea that OPs are only available for sickness absence consultations. Schmidt L, Sjstrm J, Antonsson AB. For some of them this was even a reason for not wanting to work through a case management agency anymore. Moreover, expressing mutual expectations and evaluating offered services adds to the quality of the collaboration [40]. Article An inductive approach was used to analyze the data, starting with line-by-line coding, thereby using qualitative data indexing software (ATLAS.ti) to assist the coding process. With an estimated 12 billion workdays lost annually due to depression and anxiety, costing the global economy nearly $1 trillion, more action is needed to tackle mental health issues at work, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday. J Rehabil. Researchers are still working to better understand chronic pain. Chronic, sustained exposure to stressful working conditions can result in a variety of long term health problems, including: Cardiovascular disease Musculoskeletal disorders Psychological disorders Workplace injury Moreover, OPs felt that the Dutch Occupational Health and Safety legislation negatively influenced how organizations support and attempt to retain employees with chronic conditions, by placing a great financial responsibility on employers in case of sickness absence: Employers have to contribute so much financially and for so long, in case employees who have a disability are unable to do their job, so that employers literally select their employees. (Occupational physician). How can occupational health services in Sweden contribute to work ability? Such conditions affect people's ability to work to varying degrees. management, supervisors, and human resources managers) are relevant stakeholders, as they have an essential role in ensuring organizational support and creating supportive work environments [14]. In the second focus group, the majority of OPs was self-employed. Full article: Attending work with chronic pain is associated with To reduce musculoskeletal injuries, ergonomists commonly recommend ending the practice of putting things on the floor. Our research also demonstrates that, while the resources can be available, employees tend to underuse them. Ignorance about the condition or potential solutions to otherwise retain these employees were described as possible causes. Facilitating job retention for chronically ill employees: perspectives of line managers and human resource managers. James thought of it as taking inventory lying motionless in the dark so as not to trigger an episode. Bosma, A.R., Boot, C.R.L., Snippen, N.C. et al. BMJ Open. This broad definition includes various types of diseases and disorders, both physical and psychological. In addition, barriers in occupational health care were described, e.g. Clearly, chronic pain is an issue that affects both employees and companies. Focus groups were held to explore the perspectives of OPs. AB and NS coded all the data. Phillips K, Houtenville A, ONeill J, Katz E. The effectiveness of employer practices to recruit, hire, and retain employees with disabilities: supervisor perspectives. Our study clearly demonstrated that despite obligated by law and aided by guidelines, it is difficult for OPs to use their full potential in light of preventive tasks and promoting selective and indicated prevention in organizations and in occupational health care. Chronic physical health issues can range from mild back pain to severe pain throughout the body. 2010;83(4):38998. J Occup Rehabil. [ ] But I think yes, that would certainly, in view of prevention on the long term, be a wise thing to do. (Organizational representative). Understanding their current practices and experienced barriers is useful for the development of an organizational-level intervention to improve this support. On the other hand, the organizational representative of the social firm explained that employees are clearly informed about the possibility of preventively consulting the OP and that their preventive consultation hours were widely used. 2019;41(24):29107. According to OPs, as well as organizational representatives, an organization should ensure a work environment in which employees feel supported by their organization. While chronic pain is increasingly becoming common among American workers, a recent survey of CEOs demonstrates that, while leaders recognize its an issue, few know how to discuss the topic with employees let alone help. Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. People who regularly eat and drink more calories than they burn each day are more likely to gain extra weight, including belly fat. How to deal with chronic disease in the workplace | HRD Australia Sociaal Economische Raad. Performance . Autonomy and skill use also have implications for leading chronic pain because employees can choose how and when they do work tasks depending on their ability at a given time. A study by Philips et al. Then I wonder, you know? This work was supported by Instituut Gak under grant number 2016756 and is part of the larger research program De werkende centraal. The funder had no role in the design of the study, collection, and interpretation of the data or in the writing of the manuscript. The focus groups and interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. 2014;14:135. The number of workers living with chronic health conditions is rising in the EU. However, most of the time such conversations are a critical beginning to finding effective solutions. AB collected the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data [24]. However, leaders will be confronted with the issue more commonly in the future, if they havent been already. It may also be an unstable condition, with employees being pain free on some days and completely debilitated the next. Disabil Rehabil. Several OPs explained that as a result, they spend the majority of their working hours on reducing sickness absence, leaving less time available for preventing work-related problems and preventive support. Countries vary in how they arrange their occupational health services and which professionals are responsible for this provided care and support to employees with chronic conditions, e.g. Glassman AH. Making the prevention of work-related problems a shared responsibility of all stakeholders involved, is crucial for improving sustainable employment of employees with chronic conditions. The fact is, you're likely to manage many employees with chronic illness throughout your company's history (and one in four adults has two or more chronic health conditions, most commonly heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity and arthritis). Qual Res Psychol. One organizational representative described that she felt that OPs let themselves be persuaded by employees to extent the period on sick leave. 2016;82(2):3140. According to them, this lack of cooperation was the result of various causes, e.g. 2006;3(2):77101. disability benefits). https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1481150. But for many it is not, and that makes communication sometimes difficult. (Organizational representative). I sometimes say to a manager: It is simply a social obligation that we have, to retain the people with a chronic condition as well. While on the other hand, another organizational representative spoke of the ideal situation of their OPs weekly consultation hours at the workplace. And we do this and this and this [to accomplish the mission statement] and that is what we're training our executives for you know. Correspondence to Some organizational representatives mentioned the struggle with getting through to employees and described that they sometimes even felt they needed to impose necessary adjustments on employees (e.g. How? PubMedGoogle Scholar. Eur J Work Org Psychol. They were contacted by email with a detailed description of the study and asked to participate in an interview. 2002;52(8):47783. My experience is that in small companies there is much more cooperation with me and they listen much better [to my advice]. (Occupational physician). Workers Affected by Chronic Conditions: How can workplace policies and Mental health conditions include (but are definitely not limited to) anxiety, depression, addiction, and eating disorders. Adults who perform manual labor or work in customer service, sales, or entertainment are also more likely to say that in the past month, mental and physical problems kept them from achieving their goals at work. Safety and Health Outcomes - Productive Aging and Work | NIOSH | CDC Chronic Disease Center (NCCDPHP) | CDC What we're doing about COVID-19 - Department of Health and Aged Care Finally, health care professionals must be educated on the importance of integrating work in the course of treatment and the possibility of (preventively) referring patients to OPs. reduction of working hours). Public Health Rep. 1983;98(2):1079. Interview duration ranged from 25 to 60min. And in the worst-case scenarios, individuals living with chronic pain often end up in poverty due to the expense of medical treatment and inability to maintain employment. Aging affects a variety of health conditions and outcomes, including both chronic health conditions and the likelihood of on-the-job injury. PCD provides an open exchange of information and knowledge among researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and others who strive to improve the health of the public through chronic disease prevention. As a result, managers like Kiara may become increasingly frustrated by employees who, for no apparent reason, do not perform up to expectations. Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, A. R. Bosma,C. R. L. Boot,F. G. Schaafsma&J. R. Anema, Department of Health Sciences, Community and Occupational Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, You can also search for this author in Focus groups provided us with a broad insight into OPs perspectives, whereas interviews allowed us to gain in-depth understanding of the relevance of the particular organizational context. A more pronounced role of the health care sector in preventing work-related problems, as identified in this study, was also mentioned by employees with chronic conditions, and reflects the importance of making work an essential part in the course of treatment [6, 31]. One representative described the difficulty of finding a new OP after their current OP gave notice of his resignation. This may be related to a lack of knowledge or awareness among organizational representatives of the impact of a chronic condition on working life, as shown in a study by Kopnina et al.