Supporting People with ME/Long Covid who are off Sick

Hello and welcome to Believe in ME with Rhona Barton. This episode is the third of a short series for Organisations. The aim is to help educate leaders, managers and HR teams about ME & Long Covid. Please feel free to share this series with your organisation. 

You can head to www.rhonabarton.co.uk/media for more information about me and my story.

Don’t forget that you can review, share & subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Ok, let’s jump straight in!

Last week we spoke about Supporting People with ME/Long Covid who are already in work. This week, we’re thinking about how we can Support People with ME/Long Covid who are currently off sick. 

As I mentioned last week, I’m not here to remind you of your legal responsibilities as you or your HR team will deal with that. I’m here to give you some guidance around the more practical side of things.

With that in mind, let’s consider how the person with ME/Long Covid might be feeling right now. 

As ME/Long Covid are fluctuating illnesses, symptoms can vary day-to-day as well as over longer periods. This can make it difficult to maintain a consistent level of working which can be frustrating and challenging for the individual, as well as the employer. 

I’m sure you can imagine that this frustration may also lead to worry for the individual with regards to when they will be able to return to work or even if they will have a job to go back to. 

They may also be worrying about how supportive their employer will be. Some working environments are supportive, others are not, and this can weigh heavily on the mind of the person living with ME/Long Covid. 

This can add extra stress which, in turn, can exacerbate their symptoms.

That’s it for today everybody. As I’ve mentioned, this episode is the part of a short series for Organisations. The aim is to help educate leaders, managers and HR teams about ME & Long Covid. Please feel free to share this series with your organisation. 

You can head to www.rhonabarton.co.uk/media for more information about me and my story.

Thank you for listening. Don’t forget that you can review, share & subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.