Arthritis, Joint Pain, and Back Pain
Act Now: How to help employees with arthritis, joint pain, and back pain
Where are you at?
Where you start depends on where you are at.
The Employer Workplace Self-Assessment tool was designed to
help you reflect on your knowledge about arthritis, joint pain, and back pain and think about what’s happening in your workplace.
How did you do in the arthritis awareness section? Do you know much about arthritis, joint pain, and back pain? Did you know about the impact or arthritis on workers? Were you aware that it is the leading cause of work disability in Canada?
“I think it would be beneficial to have information available to my administrators about what exactly my condition is. I’ve disclosed it partially to them, but nobody knows what RA is. They always go, ‘oh ya, I have arthritis in whatever joint, or I take Tylenol for that.’ But to be able to have them understand it from a view that doesn’t make us look totally incompetent or like we’re not able to perform at our job. That would be huge.”
What can you do?
Having arthritis, back pain, or another chronic condition does not change your employee’s knowledge or skills. An understanding and supportive workplace can help employees with arthritis, joint pain, and back pain to remain at work for as long as possible. Here are some things that you can try in your workplace that may help you support you employees:
Be understanding
Work with the employee to figure out what they need. No one wants to have a chronic illness and chances are if an employee comes to you because they have arthritis, joint pain, or back pain they’ve already been trying to manage it at work for a while. Employees want to be able to keep working. Being understanding that their arthritis is causing them stress can help your employees feel supported and better manage their condition so that they can stay at work. This can include being understanding that medical appointments may pull them away from work, or may include employees taking sick days to manage flare-ups.
Increase education and awareness
Better awareness helps you and other coworkers understand what employees with arthritis, joint pain, and back pain are going through and the challenges they may be facing. It could even help an employee recognize arthritis symptoms in themselves! Also, while an employee may not have arthritis, they may have a family member or a student who does, so the information can be useful to people in different ways.
Be aware and open to accommodations
Accommodations are one of the biggest predictors of employees with arthritis, joint pain, and back pain being able to manage their condition at work. Accommodations range from small adjustments (e.g., allowing 5-minute micro breaks instead of one 15-minute break) to larger accommodations (e.g., ergonomics, changes to work hours or activities). Changes to the work area, tools used, the way work is done, organized breaks and rotation, flexible work hours, or the work environment (lighting, temperature) can help reduce the risk and impact of arthritis. Check out the Accommodations section for more detail.
Be pro-active
Frequent communication
Having regular discussions with employees can help identify problems and solutions early. Be sure to set up conditions for open communication with your employees – refer to the Accommodations and Communication sections for more detail.
Access to occupational health services
Having access to occupational health services and looking at job design would also help support people with arthritis, joint pain, and back pain. There may also be resources available in your community that can help employees with RA or OA, e.g., GLA:D program for OA, Living Well arthritis exercise program – refer to the accommodations section for more details.
For more information about arthritis, joint pain, and back pain, and how they impact people at work, visit the Tools and Resources page for articles and links.
Employee Responsibility
Employees can be pro-active in similar ways:
Communicating potential risks in the workplace
Being open to change
Promoting wellness in the workplace
Using the educational tools provided