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 “All strokes are different so for some people the effects may be
relatively minor and may not last long, while others may be left
with more serious long term effects,” said senior author Dr. Anna De
Simoni of the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health at Barts and
The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University
of London.
“The younger you are the better your chances for a good recovery,”
she told Reuters Health by email.
Some patients cannot return to work at all while others do return
successfully, De Simoni said.
The researchers used data from the archives of the online forum
TalkStroke between 2004 and 2011, searching 20,000 posts for the
phrases “return to work” and “back at work.”
During the seven year period, 60 people posted about returning to
work after a stroke, which they had suffered at an average age of 44
years old. Almost all wrote about experiencing residual issues that
would not be visible to someone else, like memory and concentration
problems or personality changes.
Some wrote about positive experiences at work while others were
concerned they may lose their jobs because of stroke-related issues.
Many expressed difficulty staying at work if their employer or
doctor did not understand these invisible impairments or if there
was no support for formally adjusting to work again, according to
the results in BMJ Open.
“Stroke survivors are generally aware of their invisible
impairments, although going back to work often reveals them to
patients in their full extent,” De Simoni said. “Invisibility of
problems also caused difficulties for patients, and some felt they
should be back to ‘normal’ because they looked normal, though they
were not able to work as before,” she added.
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"Employers can have a vital part to play in helping stroke survivors
get back into the workplace and on the road to recovery,” Kate
Pieroudis, manager of the Back to Work Project at the Stroke
Association in the U.K., said in a statement. “In some cases, the
long-term effects of the condition, such as communication problems
or memory loss, may only become apparent in a work environment.”
But invisible impairments should not keep people from returning to
work, De Simoni said.
“Being at work has positive effects on the health of people with
chronic conditions, including stroke, though work adjustments might
need to be implemented,” she said.
“Increasing awareness among stroke survivors may help them better
accept stroke-related difficulties, pace their return to work and
share their problems at the workplace.”
“Recovery and successful staying in work can be improved by
adjustments to the workplace or to the type of job, gradual return,
reduced hours or duties, working from home, allowing survivors going
home if tired, and reducing stress levels,” De Simoni said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1TRSiVX BMJ Open, online April 6, 2016.
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