Improve Your Understanding of Arthritis to Help Employees Succeed

Arthritis affects 1 in 4 adults in the United States, so it is very likely that some of your employees are living with this painful disease. As a manager, you can help them succeed at work by learning more about arthritis and what they need to do their job with less pain. 

What you think you know about arthritis is probably not the whole story.

• Arthritis is not a single disease. It means “joint inflammation.” There are more than 100 types of arthritis and related conditions.
• People can have arthritis at any age, even children.
• Individuals experience arthritis in different ways, based in part on what type of arthritis they have, what joints are affected, what other conditions they have as a result of arthritis and how well controlled their arthritis is by medications and lifestyle.
• Osteoarthritis, historically thought of as “wear and tear” arthritis, often affects older employees, but it also can cause pain and limited function in younger adults.
• Autoimmune forms of arthritis are systemic diseases in which the body attacks its own tissues. It typically creates pain and fatigue and may be accompanied by other health issues, ranging from heart disease and vision impairments to depression and anxiety.
• Arthritis is often invisible, which causes many people to question whether a person with arthritis is truly experiencing pain, stiffness, fatigue or other symptoms.
• Arthritis is unpredictable; a person may feel fine and energetic one day and wake up in pain and be so fatigued that they can’t function the next day.
• There are no cures for arthritis.
• There are, however, treatments that, for some people, can control the disease very effectively, so you might not even know they have arthritis.
• Some medications used to treat arthritis require the patient to receive regular infusions, given in a doctor’s office, as well as regular medical visits.
• These medications, as well as the disease itself in some cases, can cause the person to be more vulnerable to infections, such as flu, colds or COVID-19.
• There are no truly effective treatments for “wear and tear” osteoarthritis except for joint replacement. Many patients resort to this major surgery when they can no longer tolerate the pain and loss of ability to do the things they love and need.
• Like people with other conditions or disabilities, people with arthritis often face discrimination, especially because their disease is invisible and unpredictable.