Sick and Vulnerable, Workers Fear for Health and Their Jobs
This title of a front page article in Saturday’s New York Times says it all. But I’ll summarize anyway… With an illness that requires a lot of time off work, a person’s job security suddenly flies out the window. The worries then extend beyond the illness; potential loss of income, identity, insurance and normalcy are all in jeopardy.
Artin of Pain in the Head, a blog that Moogle’s Thoughts introduced me to in this week’s Carnival of Compassion, experienced some of these dilemmas yesterday. The post title, Enter Dementors, is fabulously descriptive.
How much does migraine affect work life?
“A diary study of migraine sufferers from the general population revealed that over a three-month period, 69 percent of employed migraine sufferers experienced reduced work effectiveness.1 When people work with migraine, their productivity is reduced by 41 percent. Further, about 40 percent of all migraine sufferers account for 75 percent of all productivity losses.
“The best estimates suggest that migraine costs U.S. employers $13 billion per year in lost productivity. Of that amount, the largest part is due to reduced productivity at work, not absenteeism. As a corollary, workplace programs for treating migraine might help cost-effectively reduce the burden of illness. Since the current cost of migraine treatment in the U.S. is $2 billion, the productivity gains might more than offset increased spending for better healthcare. In addition, human suffering might be reduced immeasurably.” (Migraine in the Workplace: Impact and Hope, from a 2004 ACHE newsletter)
If you’re still not convinced, read these summaries of findings from more than 20 studies on migraine and productivity.
