Potential increase in disability leave, presenteeism, as well as recruitment and retention issues.

For some people, COVID 19 can cause symptoms that last months or even years after the original infection, this is called LONG COVID

Studies suggest that long covid affects between 10 to 30 percent of infected people.

In the U.S. alone it will strike up to 43 million workers or more than 13 percent of the adult population.

Symptoms can include severe fatigue, brain fog, gastrointenstinal issues and problems with breathing. Additional symptoms can also arise.

The effect of these symptoms can sometimes be unpredictable. At one moment the person can seem well, at another, their symptoms can be significant and even disabling.

As a result of all of these factors, there are worries that Long Covid could cripple the workforce, forcing the early retirement of key people, an increase in disability leave, recruitment and retention issues, presenteeism and much more.

However, there are ways to deal with Long Covid in the workplace.

Long COVID is a chronic illness. By dealing with chronic illness in the workplace we can mitigate its effects.

You see, Long Covid is essentially a chronic Illness, and its effects on work are much the same as diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, mental health issues and many others.

In fact, before Long Covid even existed, Chronic illness already affected more than 25% of the workforce.

If we know how to deal with chronic illness, we can deal with Long Covid.

Battling chronic illness doesn’t preclude high performance. I was able to succeed in the competitive industry of national television news despite living with both Crohn’s disease and arthritis. I also effectively managed teams with many members who had similar challenges.

Now, I talk to organizations across the world, educating their managers and employees about how we can embrace chronic illness and invisible disabilities in the workplace.

Whether it’s better communication, creative accommodations or even handling those difficult conversations, I can show YOUR organization how to better manage Long Covid, invisible disabilities and even caregiver issues.

For more information contact me here. I’m easy to work with and usually respond in less than 24-hours.

We are living in an age where lifestyle is finally being recognized as one of the cornerstones of health. There are good reasons to be concerned about our lifestyle these days. As our population gets older, our bodies become more difficult to maintain and the consequences of poor lifestyle choices can become more evident. 

The concept that we should be actively involved in our own health makes a lot of sense. For too long our health system has concentrated on fixing problems to the detriment of promoting wellness and I believe it is important that we address this imbalance.

The difficulty occurs when we pursue lifestyle solutions with a religious zeal, believing that lifestyle is the cause and cure of every ailment and every disease.  It is true that many chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, lung cancer, heart disease and hypertension often have roots related to diet, exercise or smoking. These are significant health issues that impact a large number of people and should not be ignored.

Unfortunately, we have a tendency, as human beings, to generalize ideas and concepts. As a result, the term chronic illness has become shorthand for lifestyle illness, which is fundamentally incorrect.

To put this in context, The World Health Organization identifies more than 70 different types of chronic illnesses and most of them are not directly related to obesity, lack of exercise or smoking. In fact, many of these diseases occur in people with relatively healthy lifestyles.

Healthy Habits Alone Can’t Cure Most Chronic Illnesses

One of the most difficult things for healthy people to understand is that people with certain illnesses sometimes have little control over their disease. Many conditions (particularly autoimmune disorders) can flare up for no obvious reason. This is an uncomfortable truth that most people do not like to hear. As human beings we like to think we have total control over our health, but the sad fact is that sometimes we do not.

Regrettably, people with chronic illness often get blamed for things they have no control over. I have had more than one coaching client phone me in tears after getting a reprimand from her boss for not taking care of herself. The employee’s disease had flared up and the manager made the assumption that something the employee did or did not do was likely the cause.

The Stress of Managing Chronic Illness and Invisible Disability

This idea that every person with a chronic illness is somehow responsible for their poor health is not only incorrect, but puts additional strain on someone who is already managing a great deal of stress in their lives. The resulting level of guilt and frustration can be indescribable.       

To add to the stress, the complex and individual nature of many chronic diseases often makes it difficult to distinguish “healthy behavior” from “non-healthy” behavior.

I remember an incident involving a friend of mine who had Crohn’s disease and, like me, could no longer eat high fiber foods due scar tissue build-up on his intestines. I listened as a co-worker started criticizing my friend’s diet to another person in the office; “No wonder he’s always sick! Look at the crap he eats – meat, dairy and white bread.”

As I overheard this unjust criticism, I couldn’t help but realize that this was exactly the same diet I was limited to. I wondered how many people were thinking the same thing about me – and criticizing me behind my back. 

Please keep this in mind the next time you feel compelled to give health advice to co-workers or employees. Every illness is different and what you think may be healthy for someone could be just the opposite.

Making judgments about others is an unfortunate, but common aspect of our human nature. However, judging the lifestyle of someone with a chronic illness without knowing the facts is not only hurtful to the employee but could also cause damage to the organization in the long run.