Ill But Not Seen: Managing Chronic Illness in the Workplace

慢性疾病影响全球劳动力的人口结构和动态（Vijayasingham等人，2018）。英国约有2600万人患有至少一种慢性疾病，1000万人患有两种或两种以上（PSNC， 2022年），这一数字还在上升。世界卫生组织（世卫组织）估计，每年有1700万处于积极工作年龄的人过早死于慢性病，其中中低收入国家占这些死亡人数的86%（世卫组织，2022年）。关于职业和工作的研究已经开始承认身体和具体实践的作用。这在“幸福”和“人类繁荣”等概念的新兴研究中尤为明显，强调了它们对当代工作场所的重要性。相比之下，人们对疾病，尤其是慢性病和隐性疾病，是如何与人们的职业和工作实践相关联的，仍然知之甚少。特别是，人们在工作时如何反射性地应对疾病，以及这些做法对他们的职业和身体的影响还没有得到很好的理解。该项目的目的是通过对患有慢性健康状况的知识专业人员进行定性调查来促进理解。研究问题：慢性疾病如何影响专业人士的工作实践，以及专业人士对自己职业的不断发展的理解？疾病对他们的身体和感觉体验有什么影响？深入的定性访谈将用于调查慢性疾病如何塑造专业人士的工作实践和他们对职业的不断发展的理解。为了探索他们的感受经验，将进行50次访谈，并采用创新的艺术方法，收集他们的经验图纸。在数据分析阶段，福柯式的后结构主义话语分析将允许探索参与者如何构建慢性疾病经验。除此之外，将对两家公司进行深入的比较研究，以分析患有慢性疾病（或缺乏慢性疾病）的工人的组织实践的现状。通过对每家公司的员工进行10次访谈，并借鉴展示如何处理疾病的官方公司文件，本文的目的是更好地了解专业组织中的组织职业实践和社会动态如何影响专业人员对慢性病的经历以及他们的工作和职业生涯。除了为学术文献做出贡献外，该项目还寻求有目的地与非学术受众接触。这包括英国的Alopecia，他们提供了他们的病人研究小组，他们可以在设计和审查提案/文件等方面提供意见，以确保研究以一种对他们产生相关影响的方式进行。硬皮病公司和雷诺英国公司也表示了他们对合作的兴趣，他们愿意通过他们的社交媒体推广这个项目，并将研究结果传播给他们的患者社区和其他地方。将创建一个播客，以提高公众和医疗保健专业人员对各种自身免疫性疾病及其心理影响的认识。学者们越来越多地开始发现播客是一种有效的研究交流数字媒体。播客将研究放在一个相对较新的平台上，增加了新受众听到研究的可能性。这项研究的意义可能会对患有慢性疾病的工人产生变革，也可能会对组织充分利用其人力资本产生变革。这项研究将通过推动学科和方法的界限，并对非学术受众产生重大影响，显著提高知识水平。

Chronic illness impacts the demographics and dynamics of global workforces (Vijayasingham et al., 2018). Around 26 million people in the UK have at least one chronic health condition, and 10 million people have two or more (PSNC, 2022), a number that is on the rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 17 million individuals of active working age die prematurely from chronic illness every year, with low-to-middle income countries accounting for 86% of these fatalities (WHO, 2022). Research on careers and work has begun to acknowledge the role of the body and embodied practices. This is particularly evident in burgeoning research into concepts such as 'well-being' and 'human flourishing', emphasising their importance for contemporary workplaces. In contrast, there is still little understanding of how illness, especially chronic and invisible illness, intersects with people's career and work practices. Particularly, how individuals work reflexively through illness while at work, and the implications of these practices for their careers and bodies are not well-understood. The aim of this project is to contribute to understanding through a qualitative investigation of knowledge professionals who suffer with a chronic health condition. Research questions:How does chronic illness shape the work practices of professionals, and professionals' evolving understanding of their careers?What are the implications for their bodies and felt experiences of illness? In-depth qualitative interviews will be used to investigate how chronic illnesses shape the work practices of professionals and their evolving understanding of their careers. To explore their felt experiences, 50 interviews will be conducted and, using an innovative arts-based methodology, drawings of their experiences will be collected. In the data analysis stage, Foucauldian-informed poststructuralist discourse analysis will allow for an exploration of how the chronic illness experience is constructed by participants. Alongside this, an in-depth comparative study of 2 firms will be conducted to analyse the current state of organisational practices put in place for workers with chronic illnesses (or lack thereof). By conducting 10 interviews with staff in each firm and drawing upon official company documents that show how illness is dealt with, the purpose here is to better understand how organisational career practices and social dynamics in professional organisations shape professionals' experiences of chronic illness as well as their work and careers. In addition to making contributions to the academic literature, this project seeks to purposefully engage with non-academic audiences. This includes Alopecia UK, which have offered their Lay Research Panel of patients who are available for things like input on design and reviewing of proposals/documents, to ensure the research is done in a way that achieves relevant impact for them. Scleroderma and Raynaud's UK have also stated their interest in collaboration, their willingness to promote the project through their social media and disseminate the findings to their patient community and beyond. A podcast will be created to raise awareness to the general public and healthcare professionals about various autoimmune disorders and its psychological impact. Academics have increasingly started to discover podcasting as an effective digital medium for research communication. Podcasts puts research on a relatively new platform, increasing the likelihood that new audiences will hear about the research. The implications of this study could be transformative to workers with chronic health conditions, as well as for organisations to make best use of their human capital. The research will significantly enhance knowledge by pushing disciplinary and methodological boundaries and having a substantial impact for non-academic audiences.