Career Barriers Faced and Coping Strategies Used by Employees with epilepsy: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Epilepsy is a chronic illness with a wide variety of physical symptoms, social and emotional restrictions, and obstacles. There is a strong research base for impact of epilepsy on employment, employment rate of people with epilepsy, workplace discrimination and the stigma associated with epilepsy worldwide. However, in Pakistan, epilepsy is understudied with reference to the coping strategies used by employees with epilepsy to deal with the barriers they face during their employment. This research has explored the influence of epilepsy on their work experiences and coping strategies they use to deal with career barriers. It is qualitative research; the data was collected via semi-structured interviews with 12 participants with epilepsy who were working in different organizations with at least 1 year of working experience. Data was analysed through Braun & Clark’s (2006) Thematic Analysis. The results show that career barriers come from multiple sources, i.e., barriers because of side effects of medicines, because of symptoms, because of other’s reaction towards epileptics, because of lack of awareness, transportation barriers, low self-efficacy and career goals. They use different coping strategies to deal with career barriers. Self-acceptance, self-management, avoidance, setting boundaries, and seeking professional help are the strategies which strengthen employees with epilepsy to cope up with the barriers they face. The study also suggested certain organizational strategies which can be useful for helping epileptics in coping with the barriers at workplace. These strategies include maintaining data, creating awareness, making quota and protocols for employees with epilepsy, training employees to deal with coworkers with epilepsy and making sick leave policies for employees with epilepsy. As epilepsy population often avoids disclosure and is not discoverable easily, this study has increased awareness and understanding of the difficulties and challenges of working with epilepsy. People with epilepsy can benefit from knowing how others have adapted to working with epilepsy and which personal coping strategies they use. Employers can benefit from understanding more about the kind of career problems this population experiences and which organizational strategies can be used to make working environment better and welcoming for employees with epilepsy.