Work options

Most people with arthritis are able to work, but it is important to find work that suits your needs and abilities. When considering work, take into account your interests, skills and experience, as well as your arthritis.

For more information on your options, download the following leaflet from the Jobcentre Plus website: A guide for disabled people, those with health conditions, and carers.

Skills and experience

Everybody has different skills they can bring to a job, even if they have never worked before. Don’t forget to think about skills you have developed outside work, perhaps as a parent or carer or through a hobby. Having arthritis may have improved your patience, planning and problem-solving skills. For example, you may be good at developing innovative ways to carry out everyday tasks.

Volunteering is one way to broaden your work experience – 72 per cent of volunteers said that they had gained new skills according to Arthritis Care’s survey of over 1,500 people in 2007.

Suitable work

It is important to look after your health to prevent your condition from getting worse. Try to be realistic about the kind of work and hours that will suit you. Depending on your arthritis, you may want to avoid:

• prolonged periods in one position, such as standing or sitting all day
• physically demanding work, like heavy manual labour
• repetitive tasks, for example, work on a production line
• situations where the whole body vibrates, such as operating some industrial machinery or driving heavy vehicles.

Ways of working

There are many different ways of working. You might consider:

• part-time work
• home working
• flexible start and finish times
• job-sharing a full-time job with another person
• self-employment – this offers more flexibility in how you work, but has increased responsibility and less job security.

You can share ideas with other people with arthritis on ways of working on Arthritis Care’s online discussion forum.