Influence of Significant Others on Work Participation of Individuals with Chronic Diseases

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 8:30 AM PT, 11:30 ET, 5:30 PM CET

Resources:

Presentation Slides

We know that significant others such as a partner, family members or friends can be an important resource to help individuals adapt successfully to a chronic disease and to participate in work. However, they can also be an important barrier. This webinar will provide more insight in how significant others can influence adjustment to a chronic disease and will go into the concepts of individual and dyadic coping. Furthermore, attention will be paid to how these insights can be applied to occupational health care to better support workers to manage their chronic disease and to participate in work.

You will learn:

That illness representations, appraisals, communication, and coping of chronically ill workers and their significant other can influence individual and relationship outcomes.
How these concepts can be addressed in occupational health care to promote self-management and work re-integration of workers with a chronic disease.

Take-home messages:

Significant others can be an important resource for individuals to help them successfully adapt to a chronic disease, but they can also be an important barrier.
When worker and significant other both own the illness and work to support each other and the relationship, this can improve self-efficacy and dyadic efficacy, which may in turn improve individual and relationship outcomes.
Occupational health professionals can better support self-management and work participation of workers with a chronic disease by addressing individual and dyadic coping processes in occupational health care.

Hosted by

Nicole Snippen, PhD Stud.

Third year PhD student, Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.

Nicole Snippen is a third year PhD student at the Department of Health Sciences of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. The focus of her research is on the influence of significant others such as partners, family members and friends on work participation of workers with a chronic disease. She is particularly interested in how health care can be improved by involving significant others. Currently, she is developing an e-learning training for occupational health professionals on how significant others can influence work participation and how to address this in occupational health care. Additionally, she is developing a conversation tool with accompanying materials that occupational health professionals can use to assess how significant others influence the worker and to facilitate a positive influence.