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The month of May is full of awareness days dedicated to various health conditions, which brings to light challenges faced by people living with chronic illnesses. These conditions, which can be invisible and unpredictable, can make career navigation especially complex. Here are resources that career professionals can use to help clients with chronic illnesses adapt to evolving career needs while pursuing professional growth.

The Institute for Work & Health provides research-based resources on chronic conditions and employment. This includes a free tool called Decision-Support for Communicating about Invisible Disabilities that are Episodic (DCIDE). There is also an accompanying article that features a Q&A about the tool.

This resource contains articles examining common stressors for employees with chronic health conditions, such as work-health conflict, anticipated stigma and job insecurity. It also explores supportive relational and social and motivational work design factors like supervisor support, sense of community, organizational fairness and flexibility in managing symptoms, among others.

The article explores how career professionals can support clients dealing with long COVID and chronic illness. It highlights the uncertainty of recovery, the emotional toll of chronic conditions and the importance of validating clients’ experiences. Clients benefit when career professionals acknowledge biases and embrace new approaches.

This comprehensive library is designed to enhance understanding and management of chronic conditions in the workplace. Tools and insights include:

The piece highlights personal stories of professionals who have successfully navigated career changes due to illness. It also touches on learning to communicate and advocate for personal needs, finding community and mentorship, and recognizing strengths and benefits gained from life experiences.

Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT) (Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities) [Tool]

This tool helps workers with chronic and episodic conditions – and the workplace parties who support them – identify accommodations tailored to job demands that allow workers to successfully stay in their jobs.

Navigating Career & Life Transitions with Long-COVID (Body Politic) [Webinar]

Clinical Rehabilitation Counsellor Dr. Julie Hill discusses various topics from living with uncertainty, to navigating employment transitions, to accommodations in school.

Navigating episodic disability in the workplace (CareerWise) [Article]

According to the Episodic Disability Network, episodic disability is characterized by fluctuating periods of wellness and disability that are unpredictable in nature. The range of episodic disability is wide, from chronic medical disabilities such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and HIV/AIDS to mental health challenges including depression and bi-polar disorder. This piece offers four practices to integrate when working with clients with episodic disabilities.

Navigating Your Career When You Have a Disability (Harvard Business Review) [Podcast]

Meredith Koch and Nicole Bettè are engineers who use wheelchairs and advocate for employees with disabilities. In this episode, they reflect on moments of support and challenges to help workers self-advocate and guide managers on providing accommodation.

The Ambition Interviews – Reimagining Career, Chronic Illness, and Your Future (Career & Chronic by Michelle Irving) [Videos]

This free series provides strategies for professionals managing chronic conditions while pursuing career ambitions. It includes interviews with global leaders sharing insights on leadership and resilience. To watch the series, enter your name, email and country here, or click here.