Managing your condition in work

How to manage arthritis at work

Key to working with a long-term condition such as arthritis, is understanding how to live well with your condition. This does not happen overnight.  

Learning and adapting to your condition, along with the range of symptoms you experience, can be challenging. You may need support from your doctor, other health professionals, health charities such as Arthritis UK, as well as family or friends.  

In this section, we will look at how you: 

  • process your diagnosis. 
  • learn about your condition. 
  • manage any treatment, flares, or setbacks.  
  • find the equipment or support you need to work and carry out everyday tasks. 
  • plan and set goals in order to live and work well.  

Diagnosis

There are many forms of arthritis, with Osteoarthritis (OA) being the most common.  Arthritis can affect people of any age. If you develop symptoms of arthritis, you may not get a diagnosis immediately. For some, it may be necessary to be referred for further investigations, wait for results of tests or treatment, all of which can take time, causing stress and uncertainty.   

If you have lived with arthritis for many years, you may find your condition or treatment changes, which may impact on your life and work. 

Your ability to work may be affected by arthritis and you might need to take time off work to recover or attend appointments. Managing appointments, work or caring commitments can be difficult. We explain how a ‘fit note’ works, agreeing time off work, sickness pay or benefit within our Sick leave and time off work section. 

When you are diagnosed with arthritis or a related musculoskeletal (MSK) condition, it can feel scary and confusing. Your GP or health professional may give you information on your condition, prescribe medication if required, or treatment. Taking steps to learn more about your condition and how it can be managed will not only increase your knowledge it can help you to start to feel in control. 

Conditions and treatment 

The Arthritis UK website has clear information on many conditions, as do NHS websites across the nations and condition specific health charities. Check out Managing your symptoms, this area of our website is aimed at improving your understanding of your condition and guiding you to information and support that can help you. 

If you experience symptoms such as pain, fatigue, stiffness, or limited mobility and dexterity, this can leave you feeling uncertain about your capacity to remain in or return to work, impacting on your confidence and can leave you feeling concerned about your future. 

Finding the right treatment for you can sometimes be trial and error, and may take time. Prescribed treatment or medication might take a while to have a positive impact. Check out our website, speak with your Consultant, GP, nurse, pharmacist, or other health professional if you need further guidance or advice about your treatment and care.  

Help yourself by finding out more about your condition, recommended treatment, and advice to manage it. Some types of arthritis can fluctuate, with the unpredictable nature of the condition making it hard to plan. Being aware of the support and treatment you need during periods when your condition flares, or is less stable, can help you deal with the uncertainty.   

Successful outcomes in care for long-term conditions result from respectful partnerships with your health care and support network.  

Support

Living with a long-term condition can feel quite isolating, even when you have a supportive network. Being able to share information on how your condition affects you might feel daunting, especially if it is affecting your work. It can, however, enable you to find the help and support you need to remain in or return to work and live the life you want.

We have included information on our website aimed at carers, which could be helpful to share with anyone who is supporting you.  

Arthritis can impact on you in many ways, causing difficulties with normal day-to-day tasks as well as work-related duties. Identifying what might help you remain in work will depend on how your condition affects you and the type of work you do.  

There are a host of specialist gadgets, equipment and support to help you with bathing, dressing, cooking, gardening, as well as items that can alleviate barriers to work. If you are unsure what would work for you to live independently, ask to be referred to your local Occupational Therapist. They can advise you about adaptations and adjustments for daily living as well as within work. 

Peer support, sharing experiences and information with others who have arthritis can also help you feel less alone and assist you to find solutions to many of the difficulties you may be facing. 

Our website provides information on finding help, such as our: 

We also offer online and, in some areas, face to face pain and self-management workshops. These are aimed at helping you to live well with your condition. 

Setting goals to live and work well: While you may feel overwhelmed at times as you come to terms and learn to live with your condition, try to focus on your strengths; what you can do to live and work well with arthritis.  

Consider: 

  • What support do you need to help you find, or remain in work? 
  • Would adjustments to your work routine or tasks help you remain in or move into work?
  • How can you get the support you need to work? 

Symptoms such as fatigue or pain can make work tough, so finding advice or support to improve your capacity to manage your condition can make a difference.  

Take time to learn how to pace yourself and set achievable goals to increase your fitness and capacity.   

Explore what pain or fatigue management courses are available locally or online. Think about joining a support group or activity session aimed at people living with long term conditions. Check out our website to see if there is anything in your area or if you prefer to engage online, join our online community forum.  

Take each day at a time, set yourself small, manageable goals. Remember pacing yourself can help you to manage fatigue and remain on course to achieve your goals. Ask for the help you need. 

Be kind to yourself. Over time, and with the right support, you will find that you are feeling less anxious, better informed and in control. 

Self-management and information resources 

Being able to manage a long-term health condition such as arthritis can be key to living well with your condition. Empowering you and enabling you to take control. In order to do this, you need access to the information and support needed to live and work well. 

Arthritis UK offers a wide range of information, booklets and resources on our website, in addition to online and face to face self-management workshops and activities to help you take control.  

We also provide information on managing your symptoms, which includes advice on pain, fatigue, sleep, joint care and emotional wellbeing. 

Below we have also included links to some external self-management resources, many aimed specifically at supporting you to live and work well. 

Employment related self-management resources

Workwell was developed through research funded by Arthritis UK, the website has a range of resources to help you manage your inflammatory condition in work. The WORKWELL programme is FREE, and you can access self-help resources online on this website without a need to register. There is information on all areas of work, including simple scenarios to help you. 

MSK Aware is a workplace programme that supports the needs of employers and employees to help prevent work loss. The principle of MSK Aware is to “help people help themselves”. Enabling employers and employees to identify any problems with musculoskeletal health in their workplace and providing them with holistic solutions and resources that are based on need, evidence, and best practice. 

Northern Ireland Condition management programme helps you manage your health condition to allow you to progress towards, move into and stay in employment. The programme is led by healthcare professionals, such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and mental health nurses. 

Managing pain and your condition  

ESCAPE-pain is a group rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain that integrates educational self-management and coping strategies with an exercise regime individualised for each participant. It helps people understand their condition, teaches them simple things they can help themselves with, and takes them through a progressive exercise programme so they learn how to cope with pain better.  

ESCAPE-pain have developed digital support tools to help you to exercise safely at home. The digital tools are a free resource produced in the NHS by Orthopaedic Research UK, the Health Innovation Network and Pixelfield. The apps were developed in conjunction with physiotherapists to bring the ESCAPE-pain programme to more people. 

Back online BACK-on-LINETM is a digital online platform designed to help people better manage low back pain in the workplace and whilst working from home. It offers a self-assessment tool to understand what is contributing to your back pain. The platform has been developed by a Cardiff University team of academics from the School of Healthcare Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the Data Innovation Research Institute in collaboration with physiotherapists and occupational health managers from Cardiff and Vale and Aneurin Bevan UHB. The project has further support from Cardiff University Biomechanics and Bioengineering Centre Versus Arthritis. 

The Pain Toolkit offers tailored set of twelve tools to help and aid in pain self-management, plus a suite of tailored resources for both healthcare professionals and people living with persistent pain. These tools include simple skills for pacing and planning activities, relaxation to get back on track and in the driving seat. The Pain Toolkit booklet is an interactive and simple information booklet, provides readers or listeners with handy tips and skills to support people along the way to self-managing their pain or long-term health condition. People can use the Pain Toolkit on their own or with the support of their healthcare professional. Also offers a newsletter and events. 

Working Health Services Scotland, WHSS provides free and confidential advice and health support for the self-employed and people working in companies with less than 250 employees. The service aims to help employees manage their condition and remain at work or return to work after a short period of sickness absence occurs. Where necessary, the programme can provide quick access to counselling, physiotherapy, occupational therapy. Employees can refer themselves to WHSS.  

Information on self-management and resources 

Living life to the full LLTF, provides written and computer-based self-help and supporter resources for every stage in life. The courses try to teach important life skills that aim to help empower and equip people to cope with negative thoughts or feelings. Helping people learn to understand why they feel as they do, choose to do activities that improve wellbeing. Many of the resources are available in several languages. 

Pain Concern programme on health and work. Providing evidence-based information leaflets, quarterly magazine, and podcast, find what you need to manage your pain. 

NHS England explains supported self-management in the context of personalised care. 

The Alliance states, Self-management supports and encourages people living with long term conditions to access information and to develop skills to find out what’s right for their condition and, most importantly, right for them. Their purpose is to improve the wellbeing of people and communities across Scotland. Bringing together the expertise of people with lived experience, the third sector, and organisations across health and social care to inform policy, practice and service delivery. 

The patients association is an independent patient charity campaigning for improvements in health and social care for patients. Purpose is to ensure that everybody can access and benefit from the health and care they need to live well, by ensuring that services are designed and delivered through equal partnership with patients.  

A list of information and MSK self-management resources has been put together by Professor Jonathan C Hill, Keele University. It lists factsheets, booklets and web-based information on conditions and management of them. 

The primary care rheumatology and musculoskeletal medicine society have a list of resources ‘Patient leaflets & Self-Management resources’.   

EULAR PARE is the network of national organisations of People with Arthritis/Rheumatism in Europe, united to ensure the voice of people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) is heard and has influence among decision makers within Europe and create powerful alliances that will make a difference to their lives. 

CMHW Centre for MSK Health and Work carries out research on working with arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.  

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