Managing Migraine at work

Is it possible to create a safe and inclusive workplace for managing Migraine at work?
Yes, it is. Companies need to be aware that an environment that meets the specific needs of those suffering from invisible diseases can become a facilitator and that it is necessary to apply design criteria that reduce the presence of triggers.

KEY POINTS
Work is where the majority of people of working age spend most of their day.

• The impact of the work environment and of workplace relationships on the individual’s psychophysical well-being has a significant and
decisive influence on various aspects of their lives: their quality of life, their decision to enter (and subsequently to remain in) the working world, and the company they choose to work for.

• From the workplace to the work environment: a change in perspective is needed in order to identify what and how many factors affect the workplace well-being of people with migraine. These include the physical and social environment, collectively known as environmental factors, that, for the individual, can act as barriers or facilitators (ICF, WHO 2001).

• Inclusive safety is a passe-partout to achieve a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach to the concept of accessibility in emergency prevention and emergency planning, an approach that considers the autonomy of every individual according to their specific needs.

Migraine is a very complex disabling neurological disease, and currently, a large proportion of patients are only partial responders or non-responders to the available treatments. According to the WHO, migraine is the leading cause of disability in the under 50s and the second cause of years lived with disability worldwide. A recent study, in agreement with other previous studies, “revealed a high prevalence and disease burden among employees with migraine that is associated with substantial losses in productivity and employer cost” (Shimizu et al. 2021) and suggested that the development and implementation of programmes to improve managing migraine at work could reduce the burden and costs associated with lost workplace productivity.