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News Releases
Challenges of Arthritis in the Workplace
Working to make ends meet isn't always possible for the 46 million Americans living with arthritis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 3 working adults diagnosed with arthritis between the ages 18 and 64 face work limitations. This means that arthritis can have an impact on either the type or amount of work they do, or it may even affect their ability to work.
"The impact of arthritis on employment is significant given that approximately half of people with arthritis who are working are unable to continue to do so 10 years after diagnosis," says Brick Johnstone, Ph.D., principal investigator at Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC). "The inability to work can lead to financial difficulties, as individuals cannot earn monies to support them and their families."
While the impact of arthritis is growing, there is hope for the future. You can overcome some of the problems associated with arthritis by using self-management techniques to decrease disability associated with arthritis. In fact, the CDC outlines three effective strategies and approaches to dealing with the disease:
- Arthritis Self-Help Course. Learning how to effectively manage arthritis and its effects could drastically change the outlook for people with arthritis in the future.
- Public Awareness. Increasing public awareness about arthritis so that an early diagnosis can be made by physicians should promote increased self-management of the disease.
- Maintain Fitness. For people with arthritis, staying fit is vital and it is important to keep a healthy weight and participate in moderate physical activity in order to decrease the effects of the disease.
"Prevention can decrease the impact of these risk factors and thus, decrease the affects of arthritis, says Diana Baldwin, occupational therapist and principal investigator at MARRTC. "Workers with arthritis are more vulnerable to risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders and injuries because their joints are already compromised. Risk factors could include repetitive tasks such as keyboarding, repeated moving of objects, sitting or standing for long periods of time, awkward twisting and lifting items weighing more than 10-pounds, or overreaching repeatedly."
While work disability due to arthritis is a very serious problem, you can improve your situation by making small changes in the way you live and work. For more information on the CDC state-by-state study, visit www.cdc.gov/arthritis or www.marrtc.org.
The Missouri Arthritis Research Rehabilitation and Training Center (MARRTC) was established in 1971 at the University of Missouri-Columbia Arthritis Center. MARRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B031120) and is the only federally funded arthritis rehabilitation research and training center in the country.
As part of the MU Health Communication Research Center (HCRC), MARRTC's mission is to become a national leader in the areas of disability management and communication, improve the quality of life and promote independent living among people who have arthritis and arthritic conditions. MARRTC's core message is "Disability is everyone's issue."
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