Abstract
According to estimates from the World Health Organisation, two million men and women die annually from illnesses and injuries related to work-related activities. The World Health Organisation also reports that a significant rise in the number of people with chronic illnesses (such as neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic disorders) has occurred in recent decades, impacting all spheres of society, including the social and economic facets of the workplace. In addition, occupational risk is currently responsible for 8% of the worldwide burden of depression-related disease.
Research indicates that employees with chronic illnesses have difficulty adhering to their treatment plans because they experience discrimination, lack of support, and fear of being fired for taking time off for follow-up visits to community health facilities. Since workers spend the majority of their time at work, it is essential that there be systems in place to assist those who have long-term illnesses.
The aim of this research was to explore and describe the support needs for employees diagnosed with chronic disease in a selected in the Tshwane district in the Gauteng Province.
This study was conducted using a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design, which employed a phenomenological research method to capture central ideas of the phenomenon under study. Data was collected using a purposeful sampled population and individual face-to-face, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted at a selected company with an occupational healthcare clinic that provides primary health care services and conducts employee medical surveillance. Interviews were conducted with ten individuals, aged 35 to 65, who held permanent employment of at least a year with the company, had a chronic illness diagnosis of at least two years, and had been taking medication for the condition for a minimum of a year, until data saturation was achieved. Research ethics were adhered to throughout the study.
The study's findings revealed three themes: a lack of consistent support, insufficient or absent material resources, and moral and ethical considerations surrounding illness in the workplace. Any company-level intervention designed to improve the support needs of workers with chronic illnesses is shaped in part by these findings. How well
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the outlined support needs are implemented will depend on how highly worker health and safety is prioritised and managed in a company. This includes the paradigm shift from focusing on workplace hazards/exposures and risk to health to total employee health and safety, which includes the medical aspects of absence from work and rehabilitation, the support and management of chronic non-communicable diseases, and workplace health promotion.
Key words: chronic disease company; support needs; South Africa, workplace ill-health management