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Guest Blog: Dr Paul Carson, Allergy Ireland

/ 23rd August 2018 /
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In June this year, a 46-year-old female senior executive at an Irish-based multinational turned up in my clinic. “I’m miserable,” she sniffled through wet tissues.

“My nose is blocked, my eyes itch and stream and I’m not hearing properly.” It was obviously hay fever, and pretty aggressive too.

“I’m supposed to fly to New York this weekend and give a presentation to senior management on Monday,” she added, but she wasn’t in any state to make the flight, let alone make the presentation.

As we chatted and I examined her I saw an attractive, intelligent and ambitious young woman, miserable with allergy and racked with worry and concern about her work and company position.

Even though it was Wednesday and she was flying that Saturday, it was easy to get her sorted and hay-fever-free. That’s my job, what I’ve been doing for more than 30 years.

In Association with

But it got me thinking. Why can’t companies, big or small, be more proactive with workforce allergy healthcare? If they have employees with allergy issues (going by current statistics that’s around 24%) why not have them identified and helped?

Lost Productivity

Consider the loss of working days: Statistics show that over 20% of employees miss work because of allergy issues, with four or more sick days off. Research published in the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy also shows that one-third of those who work through their allergy issues show considerably reduced productivity.

Brexit with a hard border will not stop the march of allergy-related ill-health; it crosses all territories, rich or poor. And the scourge of the respiratory misery it triggers affects all nationalities. There also aren’t not enough experienced allergists to help – a problem evident in Ireland and the UK.

Although there are a wide range of corporate wellness programmes, none deal with allergies. Which takes me back to our hay-fever-blighted senior executive.

She had to suffer the distress of pollen allergy at its most extreme this summer before seeking help. She’d already missed three days work and was so miserable during the days she presented at the office that they were write-offs. She might as well not have been in there for all the productivity she achieved.

Allergy Corporate Wellness

Now, suppose someone came along with an allergy corporate wellness programme. It could include:

+ Workplace allergy testing, with results inside 15 minutes;

+ Tailored treatment plans to those with positive results and symptoms;

+ Employees not taking time out to seek an allergy doctor.

Consider the benefits: The potential one in three of your employees who lost work time due to allergy could be identified and proactively managed. Rapid access management from allergy experts could also be provided where needed.

With an allergy company wellness programme, your firm’s allergic employees would have the tools to live symptom-free in their workplace and daily lives.

Ultimately, this could reduce allergy-related sick days and increase productivity. It could also potentially save your company 10% gross income usually lost to allergy-related ill-health.

+ Dr Paul Carson (pictured) is a bestselling author and allergy expert, and is on the board of the Irish Lung Foundation. He works in Slievemore Clinic in Stillorgan

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