Chronic Health Conditions and Work
Proactive Strategies for Supporting Employees and Doing Well by Doing Good
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:11th Aug '25
Should be back in stock very soon

People with chronic health conditions make up a large and integral part of the workforce. While few would deny that chronic health conditions can create challenges for both workers and their employing organizations, there are misperceptions about how best to support affected employees. Typical supports that organizations have historically used (including wellness programs and return-to-work programs) are insufficient to meet the under-recognized needs of employees with chronic health conditions. This book translates research and provides practical solutions and steps for implementing a more proactive, integrated approach to help leaders and frontline managers better support their employees, and to help organizations gain a competitive advantage through attracting and retaining valued employees. Chronic Health Conditions and Work provides background information on chronic health conditions, disabilities, the legal landscape, and typical supports that organizations have used, along with information on complex and common work-health challenges faced by employees, managers, and organizations. The book then provides proactive solutions that leaders, frontline managers, human resource professionals, coaches, consultants, and other practitioners can enact at the levels of the organization (culture, benefits, policies), the job (autonomy, flexibility, supervisor support, job accommodations), and the individual employee (coaching, mentoring, group programs). Readers will develop a comprehensive understanding of both the importance of, and how to implement, changes at all three of these levels to decrease stigma and promote employee well-being, inclusion, and work ability, and will gain tools to help them make a business case for taking a more proactive approach to supporting employees with chronic health conditions.
McGonagle is a globally recognized expert on chronic health conditions and the world of work. She takes her incredible insights, packages them together in a highly compelling manner, to bring forward this book that is truly a game changer for organizational leaders at all levels. Saying this book is a must-read, is likely an understatement, it is just that good! * Steven Rogelberg, Chancellor's Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; author, The Surprising Science of Meetings and Glad We Met *
This cutting-edge book will have a transformative effect for leaders of all levels in organizations. Disabilities, and chronic health conditions, specifically, have been marginalized and under-appreciated in workplace inclusion efforts to date. Alyssa provides an overwhelmingly compelling case for why this can no longer be ignored, and offers accessible and practical ways any organization can better support its employees. If you are either working with a chronic health issue or managing others at work, you must read this book. * Rosalind Joffe, Chronic Illness Career Coach, ciCoach.com; author, Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease: Keep Working Girlfriend! *
This is an excellent solution-focused resource for any supervisor managing workers with chronic health issues. The author achieves a rare balance between the needs of workers and the perspectives of organizations and describes feasible, evidence-based strategies. More than half of workers have chronic health conditions, but workplace challenges are sometimes hidden from view, overlooked by supervisors, or excluded from programs and policies until problems become severe. Anyone who has ever managed employees will appreciate this much-needed guide for providing fair and helpful organizational support and accommodation to workers within a complex regulatory environment. * William S. Shaw, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Former Division Chief (Ret.), Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine *
This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about understanding the impact of disability and other chronic health conditions on the workplace. Alyssa McGonagle is a preeminent expert in this area, and her book is a compendium of what all of us-whether organization leaders, researchers, or individual agents-need to know about maximally supporting employees with chronic health conditions. * Mikki Hebl, Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett, Professor of Psychological Sciences at Rice University; Author, Working Together: Practicing the Science of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion *
This book is very informative and accessible, and highly recommended for organizational practitioners. * Leslie Hammer, Director, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, Oregon Health & Science University *
ISBN: 9780197660638
Dimensions: 241mm x 168mm x 28mm
Weight: 454g
234 pages