FEATURE VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION
recommends the IGLOO framework, created by
Professor Karina Neilsen, as a way to look at the
division of responsibility to get back into work.
And while some people will need support to
get back into work, she thinks that the rapid shift
to working from home could have some long-term
impacts on what support is offered to employees in the
future.
She says: ‘What’s been fascinating is, whereas in
the past some employers have been hesitant to allow
people to work from home and have put barriers
in place, when we have asked for people to work
remotely for even short term, those things have been
wavered.
‘I think this will be an interesting change for people
who have health problems and find it difficult to have
that support to work from home, I think there will be
more flexibility going forward.’
Work has changed – whether or not you
have had COVID-19
While the people who have had a severe case of
COVID-19 are the most obvious group who need
support back to work, there are a wide range of
other groups who need support, says Lisa Greer, an
advanced practitioner occupational therapist who
is based at the MacInnes Medical Centre for NHS
Lanarkshire.
She has been working from the GP surgery on the
phone to patients who have been triaged by a GP.
Most calls have been about mental wellbeing, with the
occupational therapists sometimes getting the number
of calls they would get in a week on a single day. Of
those increased numbers, work is an issue for around
40 per cent of the calls.
Key groups include health and social care
professionals who have been deployed to alternative
roles, working long days in hot personal protective
equipment and using new skills in new situations.
‘Their routine is not what it used to be and for lots
of them it’s affecting their quality of sleep and their
wellbeing, especially as they can’t take part in their
usual leisure roles, and many don’t have access to
their social support network,’ says Lisa.
The team has found that promoting the use
of simple strategies like breathing or mindfulness
exercises is really helpful. These can be
demonstrated during a telephone consultation or
emailed out to patients.
‘People are able to take on board this advice,
because it is doable and easily integrated into their
current work-life situation,’ says Lisa. ‘When we speak
a week later, they can say, the breathing exercises are
really useful to help me step back from the situation
and feel calmer.’
She is also talking them through their options of
keeping in touch with family and friends, or accessing
employer-provided resources during the pandemic. ‘I
may also encourage them to talk to their line manager,
so they have an opportunity to access these support
mechanisms or we may discuss a short Fit Note so
that they can put in place the strategies and support
they need and return to work quickly with a plan in
place,’ she says.
Another group requiring different support are those
working from home. Some may be living alone; others
have family around them, but are having to adjust to
new routines without the usual support of colleagues
and managers.
‘Your home environment becomes your work
environment, and the boundaries become really
unclear,’ says Lisa. ‘People may not take a lunch
break, they can’t have a blether with colleagues
during a tea break, they are not moving about as
much and they can just end up working extra hours
as their computer is just sitting there.’
Providing advice to help them set up their
workstation to reduce the risk of aches and pains,
plan their day to maintain a helpful work-life balance
and discussing with them how to get support from
their employers when needed is an important part of
our intervention.
The team is also supporting people who are
struggling to return to work after periods of time
shielding or on furlough. ‘Many people who are now
going back to work have not been outside for ten
weeks,’ says Lisa. ’So there’s a lot of worry around the
risks in contracting COVID or bringing it back home to
others who are shielding, and there is also worry about
resuming routines or needing to create new ones.’
While the service has already seen a rise in cases,
Lisa expects a further increase in the numbers
needing support as they stop working from home
and return to workplaces, as well as those requiring
musculoskeletal support after using inappropriate
work spaces at home.
‘I think there are a lot of people trying to cope out
there,’ she says. ‘There are lots of people who have
said “I’m overreacting, I feel so stupid” and who have
delayed asking for support. I think as time progresses,
we’re going to see a whole new category of people
who will need help to manage the “new normal” at
work as well as in their home lives.’
Andrew Mickel, OTnews journalist, email: andrew.
[email protected]
34 OTnews July 2020