chronic pain<\/a>. The condition affects around a quarter of U.S. adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\nThe team found that the workers often feel trapped in a pursuit to meet the expectations of someone with an \u201cideal worker body.\u201d However, accepting the concept of a \u201csufficient worker body\u201d \u2013 the idea that \u201cI can still be a very good worker, but I might need to do things differently\u201d\u2013 can ease self-imposed pressure and help workers find more sustainable solutions, Elana Feldman, an associate professor of management at UML, said a press release.<\/p>\n
Feldman noted that employers often aim for perceived \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d accommodations such as ergonomic chairs or sit-stand desks. However, she cautioned, these measures aren\u2019t always effective because body and pain experiences vary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat managers need to do is partner with employees to figure out what works for them,\u201d Feldman said. \u201cWhen people are given that flexibility, they often come up with creative ways of doing their work.\u201d<\/p>\n
As examples, she cited a deli worker who used a cart to decrease the strain of lifting heavy items, as well as a sonographer who learned to scan with both arms to reduce strain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf organizations could focus less on what people look like while they\u2019re doing their work and more on whether the work is actually getting done, and have real conversations with employees about what they need, that would benefit everyone,\u201d Feldman said.<\/p>\n
The study was published<\/a> in the Academy of Management Journal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lowell, MA \u2014 Workers with chronic pain can alleviate extra physical and mental fatigue by recognizing that their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4765,26211,103,61,60,410,212799],"class_list":["post-496548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-chronic-disease","tag-chronic-illness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-physical-barriers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}