Page 30 - OOHNA Spring-Summer 2017
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ReseaRch n
Helping emplOYeeS WitH fibrOmYalgia
manage tHeir reputatiOnS tHrOugH
DiSclOSure DanceS
by Margaret Oldfield, Ellen MacEachen, Bonnie Kirsh, and Margaret MacNeill
imagine you’re a worksite occupa-
tional health nurse and a woman In the study, we aimed to understand
tells you she’s just been diagnosed
with fibromyalgia. Some days she how employed women with fibromyalgia
has pains all over and has trouble
sleeping, which leaves her dead manage to stay at work, given the
tired on the assembly line. other difficulties fibromyalgia can cause.
days, she’s perfectly fine. She asks
you to help her keep her job. She’s
afraid she’ll lose it if her productivity
drops, because the plant has been ranging jobs, read the full study at ter. Even when they’re not faced
laying off workers. You suggest that https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/ with questions about legitimacy,
she ask her supervisor for accom- bitstream/1807/71587/1/oldfield_ people with chronic illnesses may
modations. She says that he won’t Margaret_a_201511_Phd_thesis. still encounter stereotypes, such
believe she needs them because pdf. as they cannot handle challenging
her impairments are invisible and all three groups of participants work, they bring down team pro-
intermittent. She’s also afraid that talked about stigma against peo- ductivity, or they will soon leave
co-workers will complain about her ple with fibromyalgia. that stig- the workforce (Beatty, 2012; Vick-
“special treatment.” When she feels ma may start with skepticism that ers, 2012).
really awful and needs to take a fibromyalgia is a real disease (old- For employees with invis-
break, she doesn’t know how to field, 2013). Workmates and even ible disabilities, disclosing their
explain that to her co-workers,
family members may harbour the difference may be the first step
because they can’t see her pain. idea that people with fibromyalgia on a slippery slope leading to
What would you advise this woman? are “lazy fakers” who just need to discrimination (see Figure 1). as
results from our study may help. “pull up their socks” to get bet- noted above, chronic illness con-
in the study, we aimed to under -
stand how employed women with Figure 1
fibromyalgia manage to stay at
work, given the difficulties fibro-
myalgia can cause. We gathered
the perspectives not just of women
with fibromyalgia, but also their
family members, and workmates
(supervisors and co-workers).
twenty-two participants across the
Greater toronto area were inter-
viewed. With multiple views on
each woman’s situation, we could
compare perspectives and exam-
ine their similarities and differenc-
es. For an overview of the study
and its findings, listen to a pre-
sentation at http://www.iwh.on.ca/
plenaries/2015. to learn more
about participants and their wide-
28 OOHNA JOURNAL n spRiNg/sUmmeR 2017
Helping emplOYeeS WitH fibrOmYalgia
manage tHeir reputatiOnS tHrOugH
DiSclOSure DanceS
by Margaret Oldfield, Ellen MacEachen, Bonnie Kirsh, and Margaret MacNeill
imagine you’re a worksite occupa-
tional health nurse and a woman In the study, we aimed to understand
tells you she’s just been diagnosed
with fibromyalgia. Some days she how employed women with fibromyalgia
has pains all over and has trouble
sleeping, which leaves her dead manage to stay at work, given the
tired on the assembly line. other difficulties fibromyalgia can cause.
days, she’s perfectly fine. She asks
you to help her keep her job. She’s
afraid she’ll lose it if her productivity
drops, because the plant has been ranging jobs, read the full study at ter. Even when they’re not faced
laying off workers. You suggest that https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/ with questions about legitimacy,
she ask her supervisor for accom- bitstream/1807/71587/1/oldfield_ people with chronic illnesses may
modations. She says that he won’t Margaret_a_201511_Phd_thesis. still encounter stereotypes, such
believe she needs them because pdf. as they cannot handle challenging
her impairments are invisible and all three groups of participants work, they bring down team pro-
intermittent. She’s also afraid that talked about stigma against peo- ductivity, or they will soon leave
co-workers will complain about her ple with fibromyalgia. that stig- the workforce (Beatty, 2012; Vick-
“special treatment.” When she feels ma may start with skepticism that ers, 2012).
really awful and needs to take a fibromyalgia is a real disease (old- For employees with invis-
break, she doesn’t know how to field, 2013). Workmates and even ible disabilities, disclosing their
explain that to her co-workers,
family members may harbour the difference may be the first step
because they can’t see her pain. idea that people with fibromyalgia on a slippery slope leading to
What would you advise this woman? are “lazy fakers” who just need to discrimination (see Figure 1). as
results from our study may help. “pull up their socks” to get bet- noted above, chronic illness con-
in the study, we aimed to under -
stand how employed women with Figure 1
fibromyalgia manage to stay at
work, given the difficulties fibro-
myalgia can cause. We gathered
the perspectives not just of women
with fibromyalgia, but also their
family members, and workmates
(supervisors and co-workers).
twenty-two participants across the
Greater toronto area were inter-
viewed. With multiple views on
each woman’s situation, we could
compare perspectives and exam-
ine their similarities and differenc-
es. For an overview of the study
and its findings, listen to a pre-
sentation at http://www.iwh.on.ca/
plenaries/2015. to learn more
about participants and their wide-
28 OOHNA JOURNAL n spRiNg/sUmmeR 2017
