We can all testify that the last twelve months have testing beyond our imagination for both business and individuals. One can imagine the physical and psychological stress associated with surviving COVID and suffering from residual health challenges.
When I write this, I am thinking of Jim, a 39-year-old athletic doctor who, after suffering from a COVID infection, is in a wheelchair and cannot do those things he loves, like cycling because of the post-COVID syndrome commonly referred to as Long COVID. For those in situations like Jim, knowing that work is working in partnership with them to bring about normalcy can be therapeutic.
What is Long COVID?
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, and the Royal College of General Practitioners describes Long Covid as "signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 which continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis" 1. It is important to note that one does not need to have had a positive COVID test diagnosed with Long COVID, referred to by NICE as post COVID syndrome. Symptoms related to Long COVID vary and fluctuate, some lasting up to 140 days. Some of the symptoms commonly associated with the syndrome are:
- Shortness of breath
- Brain fog
- Persistent cough
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Feeling unwell after exercise
- Gastrointestinal Problems
- Palpitations
- Continuing fever
Coping with Long COVID Symptoms
Delegation
Create a list of activities and tasks that you can delegate, e.g. school runs, grocery shopping etc. Within work, draw a list of functions that you can trust to colleagues. Energy conservation is vital in managing your symptoms; hence keeping tasks or activities that require your expertise will ensure that you are using your energy where it is needed.
Prioritising
When you prioritise activity, it calls on you to make choices on what you can do. It needs you to consider the nature of the activities, how demanding they are, and the timescale you can do it in. It is essential to get a balance of what you need to do and "fun" things. We all need this balance to the most out of our lives.
Planning
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." – Benjamin Franklin
Planning is critical in managing post-viral symptoms. Start each day with a carefully thought-through plan for the day and week ahead. Look at tasks that you need to complete; if you have essential mental/cognitive and physically demanding jobs, consider breaking tasks into manageable chunks and spreading them through the day or week. Have a flexible approach when drawing a plan so that you can manage expectations of yourself. There will be both good and bad days; one needs to master working both days to achieve more steady days.
Pacing
When I talk to clients about pacing, many don't believe how a "simple" measure can make a difference. Pacing refers to spending enough time on an activity to get the most out of it. It means arranging your time so that you can roughly do the same actions daily.
My staff are ready to return to work; what do I do?
Returning to work after a period of absence can challenging for both the employee and employer. As a manager, it is highly advisable to keep in touch with staff during their time off work. It makes it easier to discuss their recovery, plan and paves a way to plan the return to work. You are encouraged to work with human resource colleagues in ensuring that your staff get sufficient support on their return to work. Consider the following when supporting your employees:
- Provisions in company sickness absence
- Flexible working policies
- Legal obligations such as requirements of the Equality At (2020)
- Health and Safety Requirements
Return to work meetings / interviews
Ideally, you should organise meetings before returning to work as this help reduce anxieties and somewhat manage expectations. The meeting is to talk about returning to work process, recovery challenges and outline the company's level of support or adjustments to make the return easier. On the day of the employee's return, you are encouraged to arrange a review meeting to evaluate whether the support, adjustments and modifications are sufficient or not.
Medical clearance before return to work
Some jobs are safety-critical; you must ensure the employee's fitness to carry out the role safely. If the employee already has adjustments in place for underlying condition, you will need to ensure that those adjustments remain adequate through a medical. The medical will assess the suitability of those current adjustments and consider whether there is a need for additional adjustments and modifications.
Adjustments you can consider
Reasonable adjustments you can consider are:
- Phased return to work/ graded return to work
- Reduced workloads
- Reduction of working hours, days and shifts
- Flexibility in the start and finish times
- Regular breaks during the working day
- Consider a mixture of homeworking and office working
- Consider equipment that can make it easier for your employee to carry out their role, e.g. voice to text technology to help with typing or manual handling equipment to assist with a task
- Temporary redeployment to other projects depending on transferable skills
- Modification of job considering limitations
Further Support
As occupational health professionals, we are in a better place to support both the employer and employee. Our knowledge of the workplace and health can help you in the following ways:
- Carry out an individual health assessment and offer personalised advice
- We have a wealth of experience in dealing with employees with long term and complex health issues
- We consider the safety of the employee and their co-workers
- We are knowledgeable about support outside the organisation and, in some cases, have links with other specialities such as ergonomists, physiotherapists and occupational therapist
- We can put in place follow-up screening and rehabilitation programmes and make necessary adjustments to health surveillance programmes in light of COVID risks.
