3 ways managers can support employees living with chronic pain and fatigue

by Julia Métraux

Around one in five adults in the United States lives with chronic pain, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Yet talking about and receiving accommodations for chronic pain and fatigue is still widely considered taboo in the workplace.

I live with the autoimmune disease vasculitis, which is characterized by chronic fatigue and pain. This means when I go to work, either virtually or in person, my symptoms follow me to my job.

Managers can do a lot to improve the experiences of employees like me by taking just a few simple steps — here's how.

Be approachable and offer accommodations

Supervisors shouldn't push employees to talk about their chronic pain or fatigue if they don't want to, but rather make themselves more available should an employee want to open up.

"I think by asking open-ended questions about their chronic pain, managers can signal to their workers that they are open to discussing accommodations," Rachelle Scott, director of psychiatry at Eden Health, told Insider. "Meeting employees with compassion is really important here. Many of us show up to work with so much that we don't share with others."

Read the entire article on Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-manage-support-employees-chronic-pain-fatigue-2021-6