When our ability to earn, is removed due to accident or illness, there are consequences for our financial future and that of our families. Many employers provide their employees with income protection cover that pays out a reduced income where an employee is unable to work long term due to a medical reason.
While income protection is important in dealing with loss of income, should employers and/or insurers be doing more to help the sick employee deal with their condition?
Irish Life, who has provided rehabilitation supports for over 25 years, recently announced a scaling up of support programmes for individual employees. These programmes are aimed at providing early support to help employees recover and hopefully to return to work.
Every employee, currently claiming benefit, who believes they would benefit by participating in a programme, is eligible to apply.
The eligible programmes are as follows:
The CanSurvivor Rehabilitation Programme is designed to assist people who have been suffering from cancer and after completing cancer treatment are worried about a recurrence and what the future might hold for them.
The Spring Back Physiotherapy Programme. Many people who suffer chronic pain often develop secondary social complications. Evidence shows us that if people can understand, control and predict their pain with achievable strategies this will result in a successful positive outcome.
The Chronic Fatigue Rehabilitation Programme is designed to assist people who suffer with this condition by using the best practice-based guidelines for treatment of the condition.
The Fibromyalgia Rehabilitation Programme is designed to assist people suffering with Fibromyalgia, a condition where the defining characteristic is widespread pain that can be in any part of the body and can move around to other body parts too.
The Covid -19 Long and Short Programmes aim to help with any prolonged symptoms.