Occupational Status and Hematological Disease: Effects and Counseling Needs

A disease doesn't have only a physical side but usually involves changes in the person as whole. It changes the structure of the relationship between a person and his life setting, deeply impacting the way her/he relates to others and to himself. While clinical results of new therapies about hematological pathologies are well documented in scientific literature in terms of prolonged life expectancy or remission from disease, less is known about problems and barriers preventing the return of patients with a chronic blood ailment to everyday life.

A number of economists have argued that there is a causal link between increasing inequality and the financial crisis. Evidence from different EU Member States shows that people who declare themselves as being permanently disabled are over-represented among people at risk of poverty or social exclusion compared to the whole population.

In Italy, in the second quarter of 2011, 6 million 556 thousand people aged 15-64 years (16.5% of the population of this age group) claimed to be suffering from one or more longstanding health problems or functional difficulties.

Health problems represent a barrier to the inclusion in the labour market. More than 50% of those suffering from more than one health problem or functional difficulties is inactive, this share decreases significantly among those who complain about one problem or difficulty (39.9%) and no problem (35.5%).

Among persons employed who complain of poor health conditions, about one in 10 may rely on one or more types of assistance in their place of work: availability of special equipment or workplace adaptations, personal service, special working arrangements. Among people who do not have a job, however, more than a quarter (26.6%) would need to receive at least one type of assistance in order to work.