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Welcome to the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge brought together by WEGO Health – a social network for all health activists.  Again, I am participating in the annual Writer’s Month Challenge in which I will be writing about my health activism and health condition based upon prompts given.

Today’s prompt reads as follows:

Off to work!…What advice would you give to those on the job search?  How do you juggle your job and a chronic illness?  Any tips for the interview?

Looking at all of the prompts for this month’s writing challenge, this is probably one of the more difficult blog posts for me to write as I myself am unable to work because of my condition and therefore have no experience of juggling working and a chronic illness.  So, as a result I have researched online and have found some useful tips for looking for work whilst chronically ill as well as juggling work and illness.

Job Hunting and Chronic Illness: 

  • Get into a routine: Whilst being unemployed, and especially whilst living with a chronic illness, it is often easy to become stuck in a rut, such as sleeping in late and not having a schedule.  However, if you are at the stage where you are able to start thinking of getting a job despite chronic illness, it is therefore advisable to practice getting into a regular routine beforehand so that you do not find it difficult getting up early and so on
  • Re-examine your CV: Living with a chronic illness really limits us in what we are able to do; however it also provides us with attributes that we might not have possessed before.  Therefore, make sure that your CV currently reflects your current abilities and attributes that you can bring to a job position.  Stress your accomplishments to show that you are more than your illness.
  • Do your research: With my condition, a lot of places such as buildings with high ceilings, or those with wide open spaces can make my dizziness worse, and therefore there are certain working environments which would not be suitable for my particular situation.  For example, being in a call centre with the noise and open spaces would make the dizziness extremely severe.  Therefore, for me and those in a similar situation to myself, it may be advisable to research the place of work and perhaps organise a visit to see if the place would be a suitable place of work.  Or perhaps enquiry whether they could make certain adaptations for your needs, for example, I often feel better if I am close to a wall; near the edge of the room where it is usually quieter and with not as much visual stimuli occurring

Working with a Chronic Illness 

  • Provide the basic information to employers regarding your health condition so they are to provide you with certain accommodations: Depending on your personal situation, if there is a need for you to work or if you are simply able to work but need certain accommodations to make this possible, then you would need to discuss this with your employers.  For example, you may need a different work schedule to accommodate treatments, or frequent breaks because of fatigue and so on.
  • Prioritise work tasks: If you are struggling at a certain point, and you feel that you may need to take time off because of your condition then perhaps it would be advisable to prioritise your work, and complete tasks which are urgent before those which are less important so that you are able to be productive despite living with a chronic illness. Make to-do lists, for example, as many illnesses causes memory problems. , and
  • Maintain a good work/life balance: Many jobs nowadays require a lot of energy, and therefore working whilst living with a chronic illness may use a lot of spoons.  If there are a lot of deadlines due, then you may find that when getting home from work, as a result you may not have the energy to do anything else.  Therefore, pace yourself at work, perhaps ask for certain accommodations that ask for a lesser workload so that your life foes not revolve around work and your chronic illness.

 

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Welcome to the fourteenth day of the National Health Blog Post Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health.   Every day during the month of November I will be writing a new blog post related to health and living with a chronic illness based on given prompts provided by WEGO Health.

Today’s prompt reads:

First Day on the Job: Working with a chronic illness can be a difficult balance.  What should you divulge, what should you hold back, and how do you balance it all?  Do you have advice for others?

 

Well, as most of my readers may know, I am unable to work with the current severity of symptoms.  The dizziness, trembling and pain in my legs, visual disturbances and the other plethora of symptoms that make their presence known on any given day is so bad that even keeping up with simple chores around the house is extremely difficult nevermind trying to hold down a job on top of it all. Obviously, the Department of Work and Pensions seem to also think that due to my condition that I am unable to work as I was placed in the Support Group category of the Employment and Support Allowance benefit.  At other times, I am stuck in bed, unable to leave it because of the overwhelming dizziness and weakness throughout my entire body, and especially my legs.  Also, making it difficult for me being enable to work is the fact that because of my condition I am unable to get out of the house without being unaccompanied by someone else; because of the severity of the dizziness and vertigo, as well as the bouts of vision loss that I have been experiencing.

Although I am not at fault that I am unable to work, it does not stop the guilt or shame that I feel for not being able to work.  After all, I went to University in the hopes of gaining a degree enabling me to gain a good job in the area that I wanted to eventually work in.  I am constantly wish that my body would fix itself and give me the chance to work.  I really feel for other chronically ill patients who have no other choice but to fight through their debilitating symptoms and continue working, and it must be such a dilemma for them whether or not to divulge information regarding their chronic health condition to their employer, especially due to the recession.  However, for  patients who need to work it is important to note that it is unlawful for anyone to be sacked, made redundant, forced into early retirement or passed over for a job or promotion because of an illness or disability.

According to the NHS Choices website there are a number of benefits of informing employers of a chronic health condition including:

  • Making it easier to get time off work for check-ups and treatment during office hours
  • Employers has a duty of responsibility to take reasonable steps for you to help you do your job
  • Employers and co-workers will know what to do if you have a medical emergency
  • You may even be eligible for more sick days than usual

However, how realistic is it for employers to make such allowances for employees with chronic health conditions when the recession is hitting everywhere hard and money is still very tight.  Unfortunately, the decision for whether or not to divulge a chronic health condition is not clear-cut and there are a lot of things to consider, but the final decision must be made by the patient themselves.

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