Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of Episodic Disabilities, 2020, Gignac et al

Dolphin · May 19, 2020

Free full text: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10926-020-09901-2.pdf
Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of Episodic Disabilities: Organizational Perspectives on Disability Communication‑Support Processes to Sustain Employment

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09901-2
Monique A. M. Gignac1,2 · Julie Bowring1 · Arif Jetha1,2 · Dorcas E. Beaton1 · F. Curtis Breslin1 · Renee‑Louise Franche3 · Emma Irvin1 · Joy C. Macdermid4 · William S. Shaw5 · Peter M. Smith1,2 · Aaron Thompson6,7 · Emile Tompa1,2 · Dwayne Van Eerd1 · Ron Saunders1
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Abstract

Purpose

Employers increasingly are asked to accommodate workers living with physical and mental health conditions that cause episodic disability, where periods of wellness are punctuated by intermittent and often unpredictable activity limitations (e.g., depression, anxiety, arthritis, colitis).

Episodic disabilities may be challenging for workplaces which must comply with legislation protecting the privacy of health information while believing they would beneft from personal health details to meet a worker’s accommodation needs.

This research aimed to understand organizational perspectives on disability communication-support processes.

Methods

Twenty-seven participants from diverse employment sectors and who had responsibilities for supporting workers living with episodic disabilities (e.g., supervisors, disability managers, union representatives, occupational health representatives, labour lawyers) were interviewed.

Five participants also had lived experience of a physical or mental health episodic disability.

Participants were recruited through organizational associations, community networks and advertising.

Semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis framed data collection and analyses, and mapped communication-support processes.

Results

Seven themes underpinned communication-support process:

(1) similarities and diferences among physical and mental health episodic disabilities;

(2) cultures of workplace support, including contrasting medical and biopsychosocial perspectives;

(3) misgivings about others and their role in communication-support processes;

(4) that subjective perceptions matter;

(5) the inherent complexity of the response process;

(6) challenges arising when a worker denies a disability;

and

(7) casting disability as a performance problem.

Conclusions

This study identifes a conceptual framework and areas where workplace disability support processes could be enhanced to improve inclusion and the sustainability of employment among workers living with episodic disabilities.

Keywords Chronic disease · Episodic disability · Employment · Disclosure · Accommodation · Support · Communication · Mental health
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Dolphin · May 19, 2020

I have come across a number of people over the years who don't disclose their ME/CFS in the workplace.

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Disclosure, Privacy and Workplace Accommodation of Episodic Disabilities, 2020, Gignac et al

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