Imagining a working world that supports people with long term conditions

Almost half the UK population has a long term condition (or LTC), such as depression, back pain, asthma, diabetes or epilepsy. 80% of NHS spending goes on treating this. The State cannot continue to sustain the NHS without significant innovation, and a shift in the way that healthcare is delivered - from hospitals to the community.

For many people, the workplace forms the centre of their daily life. Much more therefore needs to be done to make work central to preventing and managing long-term conditions.
One-third of working days are lost due to long-term conditions - that's £11.6bn per year. But the biggest impact is on the individual and their loved ones. People with LTCs face many problems trying to live with, and manage, their condition. One of the main ones is about getting into work, being able to hold on to a job and managing their condition while at work.

The NESTA-Young Foundation Health Innovation Accelerator is a major new initiative supporting social innovation in health and want to support and develop new ideas that work to transform the way health is approached in the working world.  We have recently launched a call for ideas looking for new thinking in the following areas:

PREVENTING AND MANAGING LONG TERM CONDITIONS IN THE WORKPLACE: Exciting work-based solutions to the promotion of physical and mental well-being amongst those with, or at risk of, LTCs. It might also be about creative ways to enable individuals with long-term conditions to contribute fully to the working world. For example, how the working day can be made easier for those who are trying to manage their condition?

GETTING INDIVIDUALS BACK INTO WORK: Supporting people with LTCs to get the work they want and need. This might include overcoming the barriers into work in the first place (such as training solutions and alternative career paths) and/or getting back to work after being unwell.