Workplace and Diabetes - Diabetes and Work

Workplace and Diabetes

It should not be a surprise that employees with diabetes are found at all levels of a company, from the mailroom to the boardroom. These hard-working men and women do not want diabetes to prevent them from doing a good job and, with your company’s support for their efforts to manage their disease; they can remain productive and contribute significantly to your organization’s success.

Potentially, any one of your employees could have diabetes now or develop the disease in the future. Diabetes does not discriminate; it can affect anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender. Because most employees spend more than a third of their waking hours, on average, at the workplace, your company has a unique opportunity to provide them with diabetes education and support. You need not be large; organizations of all sizes can do something to help their employees.

The consequences of diabetes and its complications impact your company in two ways: human and economic. The human consequences include a lower quality of life, higher absenteeism, and increased risk of premature death. The economic consequences include lower productivity and greater direct and indirect expenditures for illness and disability. Employees involved in their own self-management typically have better control of their disease and have fewer or less severe complications (stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, etc.). They are more productive and better able to work with their physicians to achieve the best possible health outcomes for themselves.

Although medical therapy is important, long-term diabetes control also depends on the choices patients make about diet, physical activity, and other health-related behavior. These choices are based on patients’ knowledge about their disease, their ability to monitor it, and their motivation to self-management behavior; hence the importance of diabetes education and user friendly management tools. Moreover, facts about diabetes, how to manage it, and its potential health complications should be presented to the patient at the time he or she is diagnosed.

Corporate action to improve diabetes care and education will help workers remain productive, decrease diabetes-related complications, and reduce associated costs over time. A dedicated effort and financial investment at the senior management level are essential to achieving these goals.

No matter how large or small your workforce, your company will be increasingly affected by diabetes. Your employees need your support and assistance to continue to be productive and effective workers.