Chronic pain and disability in organizations: It's time to pay attention to work and workers.

Abstract

The Canadian pain community knows that one in every five adults in Canada suffers from pain. What is less well known is that many of those adults stay in the workforce despite their pain. According to the Canadian Survey on Disabilities, more than half of working-age adults (i.e., between the ages 15 and 64 years) in pain are employed. Depending on the requirements of their jobs, these individuals continue to go to work, sit or stand on their feet during long shifts, work in awkward positions and in noisy environments, or lift heavy objects. Many also have comorbidities associated with pain such as anxiety or depression, which can make it harder for them to deal with difficult customers, travel for work, or stay focused on a task. In this editorial, I will (1) present a brief overview of the current state of the chronic pain and work literature, (2) make a case for why we need more pain-related research focused on the workplace and on employees with chronic pain who opt to continue working, and (3) invite pain researchers to collaborate with management scholars to better understand, prevent, and design interventions for chronic pain in the workplace. Chronic pain is a prevalent problem in Canadian workplaces. The prevalence of pain in the workplace is expected to be even more common in the future because work conditions are changing. Factors such as an aging workforce, increasingly demanding jobs, longer work hours, and working more than one job are expected to cause an increase in chronic pain cases. Despite the prevalence of pain in the workplace, very little research has examined the experiences of employees with pain. Although initial attempts have been made on this topic, significant and worrisome gaps exist in the literature. Except for general pain management interventions tested in workplace settings, most studies at the intersection of work and pain focus on absenteeism or on facilitating a return to work. Though these topics are important for our field, they assume, erroneously, that employees who have pain leave work and employees who return to work have no pain or pain that is effectively controlled; unfortunately, this is not the case for many. Employees who are working despite their pain are generally overlooked. We need more research on this topic because the majority of the people with chronic pain are still in the workforce. They struggle with unique challenges at the intersection of the organizational life and their health conditions. Understanding what conditions at work help or hinder their pain and functioning could lead to the development of more effective interventions and policies. Most individuals spend about one-third of their lives at work. Nonetheless, the influence of work is not limited to work hours and should not be underestimated. Work is a place where a person can earn their living, make social connections, and even find a sense of identity and purpose. Due to its wide sphere of influence in a person’s life, work has the potential to affect all biological, psychological, and social components that are represented in the biopsychosocial model of pain. This power, however, can be a double-edged sword: for some individuals work may be the source of their pain, whereas for others, work may mean access to pain management resources. Below, I will try to unpack this complex and intertwined relationship.