Ill But Not Seen: Managing Chronic Illness in the Workplace

Chronic illness impacts the demographics and dynamics of global workforces (Vijayasingham et al., 2018). Around 26 million people in the UK have at least one chronic health condition, and 10 million people have two or more (PSNC, 2022), a number that is on the rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 17 million individuals of active working age die prematurely from chronic illness every year, with low-to-middle income countries accounting for 86% of these fatalities (WHO, 2022).

Research on careers and work has begun to acknowledge the role of the body and embodied practices. This is particularly evident in burgeoning research into concepts such as 'well-being' and 'human flourishing', emphasising their importance for contemporary workplaces. In contrast, there is still little understanding of how illness, especially chronic and invisible illness, intersects with people's career and work practices. Particularly, how individuals work reflexively through illness while at work, and the implications of these practices for their careers and bodies are not well-understood. The aim of this project is to contribute to understanding through a qualitative investigation of knowledge professionals who suffer with a chronic health condition.

Research questions:

How does chronic illness shape the work practices of professionals, and professionals' evolving understanding of their careers?

What are the implications for their bodies and felt experiences of illness?

In-depth qualitative interviews will be used to investigate how chronic illnesses shape the work practices of professionals and their evolving understanding of their careers. To explore their felt experiences, 50 interviews will be conducted and, using an innovative arts-based methodology, drawings of their experiences will be collected. In the data analysis stage, Foucauldian-informed poststructuralist discourse analysis will allow for an exploration of how the chronic illness experience is constructed by participants.

Alongside this, an in-depth comparative study of 2 firms will be conducted to analyse the current state of organisational practices put in place for workers with chronic illnesses (or lack thereof). By conducting 10 interviews with staff in each firm and drawing upon official company documents that show how illness is dealt with, the purpose here is to better understand how organisational career practices and social dynamics in professional organisations shape professionals' experiences of chronic illness as well as their work and careers.

In addition to making contributions to the academic literature, this project seeks to purposefully engage with non-academic audiences. This includes Alopecia UK, which have offered their Lay Research Panel of patients who are available for things like input on design and reviewing of proposals/documents, to ensure the research is done in a way that achieves relevant impact for them. Scleroderma and Raynaud's UK have also stated their interest in collaboration, their willingness to promote the project through their social media and disseminate the findings to their patient community and beyond.

A podcast will be created to raise awareness to the general public and healthcare professionals about various autoimmune disorders and its psychological impact. Academics have increasingly started to discover podcasting as an effective digital medium for research communication. Podcasts puts research on a relatively new platform, increasing the likelihood that new audiences will hear about the research.

The implications of this study could be transformative to workers with chronic health conditions, as well as for organisations to make best use of their human capital. The research will significantly enhance knowledge by pushing disciplinary and methodological boundaries and having a substantial impact for non-academic audiences.