Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER December 14, 2015 8 NEWS what constitutes their 'normal.'" It makes sense that some de- gree of fear, grief or apprehension will infiltrate a person's life after events such as this one, he said. "Employers should be sensitive to that fact and not be arbitrary and bureaucratic about whether people request to pick up their own kids from school… instead of letting them be taken home by bus, and have that understanding that employees need that flexibil- ity during these periods." Psychological toll During an attack or tragedy, peo- ple's normal lives are torn apart by a development of danger, said Wilkerson — and that will obvi- ously have a psychological impact. "I don't think it takes a lot of deep thought on the part of an em- ployer to understand that whether the event of the past few days is a thousand miles away or a hundred miles away, the fact remains… it could be where your brother-in- law lives, it could be where your child is going to school," he said. Reactions will be very individ- ual, said Ruth Lanius, director of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research unit at Western University in London, Ont. "So if they've experienced something similar in the past and this brings them back to those past memories, or it reminds them of something ongoing, those are the kind of people who will re- act much stronger," she said. "Of course, everyone is shocked by it — concentration will be af- fected, people may have a de- creased ability to focus on their work because they're flooded with the media talking about this. Peo- ple will think about: 'Could this come into Canada? How could this affect us in the future?' So I think it's going to have a general effect. But the people who will be most affected will be people who have experienced something simi- lar or are experiencing something maybe with their family." e intensity of a person's re- action may not actually be deter- mined by their proximity to the tragic events, said Judith Anders- en, assistant professor of psychol- ogy at the University of Toronto. "I did some research on post-9- 11 and we had individuals around the country — it didn't matter if they were in New York, they could be in Iowa — but if they had a par- ticularly extreme reaction to the attacks, they were more likely to have physical health problems in the three years following the at- tack, compared with people who did not have an extreme reaction or an acute reaction," she said. "With that stress reaction, they continue to worry, rumi- nate about those things, and it can result in increased sick days and mental health problems. So, it's important that employers are providing (support) and making it stigma-free." No boundaries ere are no geographic boundar- ies when it comes to the psycho- logical impact of a terror attack, said Wilkerson. "In a world of tremendous mo- bility… more and more people are travelling, more and more people are in transit, more and more people are moving from one place to another and can get caught up in this stuff, whether or not their place of residence is of high risk." The images appear over and over on the news, and the imme- diacy of the information means people don't need to live nearby to feel personally affected by a tragedy, said Wilkerson. Andersen agreed. "e further away geographi- cally we are, the less intense the feelings (may) be, but the fact is that images and information in all these dramatic forms are now face to face with us in every part of the world," she said. "is is what people are talking about, this is what people are per- ceiving, we're living in a very mo- bile world... is is a global reality with a very personal touch." Employers should take some basic measures to make sure em- ployees feel safe and address psy- chological safety, said Wilkerson. "There are some common- sense steps one takes, in the same way that we would've taken 20 years ago to make sure our build- ings are physically safe — now we've got to make sure they're emotionally safe and there is an attention to physical security." Employer response One of those steps might sim- ply be offering flexibility, said Wilkerson. If employees are asking for per- sonal time to adjust, whether to counsel their kids, attend parent- teacher meetings at school or for personal reasons, employers need to be flexible and supportive. "at's just common sense and if employers reject that, then I think they're rejecting a respon- sibility on their part to ensure that the employment contract is observed in every reasonable way possible — and one of those has to be the promotion and protection of employees' mental well-being." Employers should also address the "fear factor" for employees who are worried about a similar event hitting closer to home, said Andersen. "It typically is scary for the gen- eral public when we hear some- thing like this… there's a lot of fear around 'What if this happened here?'" she said. "But there can also be another fear if there are 'similar' people working at their job. We want to try to avoid people becoming fearful or angry with co-work- ers… In this case, if it was Islamic extremists and if people were working together with Islamic co-workers, but they didn't know anything about their religion or they were afraid that they might share similar ideologies… there may be fear of the unknown about co-workers." A lack of education or simple ignorance about the religious beliefs of others could lead to un- necessary fear or tension in the workplace, said Andersen. "Reassurance by the employer can help, but there's also teaching moments that really could be ben- eficial for employers to take advan- tage of this time. Because, cultur- ally, we want to educate the public and we want to have a mix between security measures so this doesn't happen, but also not alienating people who are not terrorists." As for addressing the fear that "It could happen here," employers need to really focus on normaliz- ing those feelings and not stigma- tizing them, said Lanius. "Some people may have that re- action and I think what's impor- tant in any big organization is to really try to de-stigmatize mental health as much as possible, and to really allow people to be open about their fears," she said. "e safer they feel to be open about what's actually going on with them, the easier it will be to get them help and support." Employers can provide flexibility, reassurance AFTERMATH < pg. 1 'You can internalize stigma' stay at work and may fall out of the workforce entirely, she said. When first diagnosed, symp- toms can be like those of the flu and then develop into comorbidi- ties like certain cancers, accord- ing to Lacasse, but if people take medication, they will have the same level of engagement in the workplace that they did before. However, keeping up with the medications can be a challenge because they have to be taken regularly, at the same time every day, and a lot of people have side effects, said Symington. Mental health concerns ere can also be mental health concerns, said Porch. "Some people have described the initial diagnosis as being very traumatic, and certainly there are higher comorbidities of depres- sion for people that are living with HIV," she said. "You can internalize the stigma that you see played out and that can do quite a lot of harm in a lot of ways. Stigma can of course pre- vent people from being tested in the first place; it can prevent them from engaging with HIV-oriented support services once they are di- agnosed; and it can prevent peo- ple from asking for the accommo- dation they might need at work." A lot of people who are first diagnosed need the support of community associations and professionals who can help them adapt and be more secure with their status, said Lacasse. "Most people who are first diag- nosed self-stigmatize much more than they're stigmatized against, so if you don't settle that first step, you'll have trouble facing stigma- tization later on." Because it's a stigmatized illness and a chronic illness, HIV can be very stressful so people really need support from friends and family; from HIV organizations and sup- port groups; and from employ- ment programs. Diet, exercise and alternative therapies are also important, said Symington. "It's kind of the whole person, not just the medical treatment, that's important to dealing with something that's going to be with you for the rest of your life and will affect you in different ways." Accommodation The type of accommodation needed will depend on the indi- vidual, said Porch, but for people living with HIV, or any episodic disability, it's about instituting flexible practices for issues such as doctor's appointments, periods of illness or reactions to medica- tions, said Porch. Opportunities to shift from full-time work to part-time work, banked hours, compressed work- weeks and job sharing are also good options, said Porch. "We often encourage employ- ers to think about having space where somebody could rest dur- ing the workday in order to com- bat fatigue; sometimes, having somewhere to store your medica- tions if they have to be refriger- ated; and also access to extended health benefits can be really criti- cal for people with HIV and other episodic disabilities because they usually include drug coverage, which is a huge part of being able to be employed." For some people, it's about ad- justing work hours or providing more breaks, said Symington. "Sometimes, it's as simple as just changing someone's work- ing hours so that they can work at the times of day when they're more productive, according to their medication... Sometimes, it requires a little bit more flexibility, a little bit of creativity to find the best solutions." Disclosure However, it's important to note there is no requirement for a person living with HIV to disclose her medical condition to her employer — aside from certain professions where there is a small risk of exposure, such as health care, said Symington. Instead, a person can say she has a particular illness that requires accommodation, w ith appropr iate me dic al documentation. Deciding whether or not to disclose your status is a very dif- ficult decision to make because HIV stigma still exists, said Porch. People may speculate: How did they get it? Can I get it too? Is it contagious? For that reason, there are people living with HIV who have chosen not to request accommo- dation, she said. "We know of a few situations where people have been inad- vertently outed by virtue of them joining a small company, joining the health insurance plan, and suddenly the premiums have gone through the roof, and people are wondering why and they know that it's the person that's most recently joined and then there (is) speculation about what their condition is and they know what medications they're taking. "So it's a very difficult situation for somebody to engage with," said Porch. "Your employer has an obliga- tion to keep your information confidential but your co-workers don't, so if you're thinking about telling a co-worker, you have to re- member that once the information is out there, you can't get it back and there's very little you can do in terms of trying to contain that." HIV DIAGNOSIS < pg. 7 Actor Charlie Sheen is seen on the set of the NBC Today show in New York City on Nov. 17. The star admitted he is HIV-positive. REUTERS/Mike Segar

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