Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace

Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace

A Meeting in a Box Toolkit for National MS Society Self-help Groups

Discussion Guide

November 2013

SELF-HELP GROUP LEADER NOTES

The Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace self-help group toolkit was designed to be delivered in a way that best meets your group’s needs. The DVD and discussion guide are tools to help jumpstart the discussion in your group. You can incorporate the Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace DVD into the meeting as a lead-in to the discussion questions or use the suggested questions on their own to help generate conversation.

You could use each of the six topics in the tool kit as part of separate meetings, or have a general discussion at one meeting, using select suggested questions and video clips mentioned throughout the guide to facilitate a high-level conversation on employment and MS.

Included in the tool kit are:

·  (1) Facilitator’s Guide*

·  Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace handbook *

·  (1) Program DVD*

* Additional copies available upon request. Please contact your chapter liaison.

The handbook Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace can also be found on the employment section of the Society’s website – www.nationalMSsociety.org/employment.

Topics covered in the Employment Matters: Managing MS in the Workplace toolkit include:

·  Thinking Proactively About Employment

·  Recent Changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

·  Disclosure in the Workplace

·  Managing Fatigue in the Workplace

·  Managing Cognitive Challenges in the Workplace

·  Assistive Technology and the Workplace

As your group’s leader, you may choose to facilitate the discussion or perhaps invite a guest speaker. Suggested speakers could include:

·  PT/OT

·  Career coach, counselor or employment expert

·  Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

·  Human Resources (HR) professional

·  Employment Law Attorney

·  MS Nurse, neuropsychologist or other healthcare professional

·  Rehabilitation Engineer

If after participating in this program you or your group members have any questions related to employment issues, please contact an MS Navigator at 1-800-344-4867 or .

FUNDING

Funding for this project was made possible through educational grants from QBE Foundation, Biogen Idec, Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

DISCUSSION: MS and the Workplace

Show: Chapters of your choosing from the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  What are some of the challenges you have experienced in the workplace related to your MS?

o  How did you address them?

·  How has your MS impacted your job?

·  How has your job impacted your MS?

·  What role does work play in your life?

·  What is one new thing you learned from watching the program DVD?

·  How can you take what was shared in the videos and in the group discussion and apply it to your situation in the workplace?

·  What is one piece of advice you would share with others in the group about addressing challenges related to MS in the workplace?

DISCUSSION: Thinking Proactively About Employment

Show: Chapter 1 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  Please share with the group - if you could go back in time, is there one choice/decision you made related to your employment that you wish you could change?

·  When, after your MS diagnosis, did you begin thinking about employment issues and the potential impact MS could have on employment?

·  Has anyone met with a career coach or vocational rehabilitation counselor? If yes, what advice did they share with you regarding managing your employment?

·  What resources (like the Job Accommodation Network or the National MS Society) or professional networking groups would you recommend to people with MS and why?

·  Why might someone with MS decide they need to make a change in their employment?

·  What career or job changes have you made because of your MS?

·  What benefits do you get from working, beyond the financial? For example, emotional? Social?

DISCUSSION: Recent Changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Show: Chapter 2 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  Has anyone had experience with using the ADA in the workplace?

o  If yes, please share the circumstances and the outcome.

·  Why might people with MS be reluctant to ask for a reasonable accommodation, even though it is a right under the ADA?

·  Has anyone requested and received a reasonable accommodation?

o  If yes, please share your experience with the group.

·  Has anyone requested and been denied a reasonable accommodation?

o  If yes, please share your experience with the group.

·  Has anyone experienced discrimination in the workplace?

o  If so, what did you do about it?

o  What was the eventual outcome?

DISCUSSION: Disclosure in the Workplace

Show: Chapter 3 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  Why might people with MS decide not to disclose to their employer?

·  Why might you decide to disclose your diagnosis to your employer?

·  For those of you who have disclosed your MS diagnosis in the workplace, how did you manage that?

o  What did you say and who did you disclose to?

o  How did that conversation go and what was the outcome?

·  How would you prepare yourself to disclose to your manager, co-workers, HR staff, etc.?

·  What do you see the advantages and disadvantages being in regard to disclosure?

DISCUSSION: Managing Fatigue in the Workplace

Show: Chapter 4 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  How many of you are impacted by fatigue in the workplace?

·  What strategies or techniques do you use to manage fatigue in the workplace?

·  Which of the strategies referenced in the video resonate with you most and why?

·  Has anyone asked for a reasonable accommodation to manage fatigue in the workplace? If yes, please share your experience.

·  What resources have you utilized to come up with practical accommodations?

DISCUSSION: Managing Cognitive Challenges in the Workplace

Show: Chapter 5 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  Has anyone undergone any sort of evaluation to assess the impact of cognitive symptoms in the workplace?

·  What strategies or techniques do you use to manage cognitive challenges in the workplace?

·  Which of the strategies referenced in the video resonate with you most and why?

·  Has anyone asked for a reasonable accommodation to manage cognitive challenges in the workplace? If yes, please share your experience.

·  What resources have you utilized to come up with practical accommodations?

DISCUSSION: Assistive Technology and the Workplace

Show: Chapter 6 on the Employment Matters program DVD

Suggested discussion questions:

·  Why might people with MS be reluctant to use assistive devices and technology in the workplace?

·  What do you see as the benefits of using these devices and technology in the workplace?

·  Has anyone raised the issue of assistive technologies/devices with members of your healthcare team?

o  If yes, how did you broach the subject?

·  Has anyone raised the issue of assistive technologies/devices with your employer?

o  If yes, how did you broach the subject and how receptive were they to you using them?

·  Is anyone using the assistive technologies/devices described in the video (or others not mentioned)?

o  How have they helped you in the workplace?

o  How pricey were they and did you receive any funding to help purchase them?

o  What role did your employer play in securing the devices?

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