皇冠体育app daily impact of chronic illness
To mark International Day of People with Disabilities, Sellafield Ltd's Craig Brown shares his story of living and working with Parkinson's Disease.
Craig Brown
Life can be difficult for those living with a chronic illness. It can be even harder when your illness is seemingly invisible to your friends and colleagues.
Craig Brown knows this only too well.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson鈥檚 Disease in 2015.
He shared his story to mark International Day of People with Disabilities and to raise awareness of the support he鈥檚 received through Sellafield鈥檚 Chronic Illness Peer Support Network 鈥� known as ChIPS.
He said:
If you see me around, I鈥檓 usually ok. This is because I have medication to control my symptoms. To a large extent they are invisible. Unless my medication wears off.
When it comes to chronic illnesses, quite a lot of them have invisible symptoms. But we all share a fairly common theme. Firstly, it鈥檚 coming to terms with the condition and secondly, it鈥檚 managing day to day with controlling those symptoms.
About 15% of the working age population have a disability. More of than half of those are disabilities that are not visible. Many people with disabilities want to work or continue to work.
He added:
ChIPS is here to provide help, advice and support to people dealing with chronic illness. Whether that鈥檚 someone with chronic illness, their line manager, or someone caring for someone with a chronic illness.
You鈥檙e not alone and you鈥檙e not invisible.
Employees can find out more about the ChIPS network on the Sellafield Ltd intranet site.