Can I continue to work with a dementia diagnosis?

Dementia does not just impact people who are over a set age, there is a range of dementia diseases which impact people under 65 and this is called early onset dementia. If you have been diagnosed at a younger age and you are still working, there may be many reasons why you still wish to be able to work. And under the 2010 Equalities Act, your workplace has to make reasonable adjustments to support you in your work environment. 

You might feel more happy staying involved in a work community and being able to carry on the career that you love. You may feel that it continues to give you purpose and a routine, which you can stick to and observe. On the flip side, you may feel that financially you need to remain in employment to support you and your family. 

Remember that you have a say

You have the choice to stay within your job, if that is what you want to do and your employer should help you by making adjustments around the office for you. Remember that while dementia diseases progress at different rates, you could remain in the early to mid stages of dementia for up to 8 years, so you could continue to work as long as you felt confident and happy to do so. If you find resistance from your employer, it may be that they do not understand the diagnosis of dementia, so perhaps you could talk it through with them. You could agree to have an occupational assessment to identify what support you may need in the workplace. 

Perhaps you wish to make changes to your role, so that you have work related stresses removed from your responsibilities, or that you have reasonable adjustments made so that your role is now in reduced hours or on a part time basis. 

Your employer is not allowed to discriminate against you because you have been diagnosed with a disease. However, there may be instances however, where your employer has a legitimate concern for your ability to carry out your role. These concerns would have to be properly identified and discussed clearly and it could only be followed through on, after the employer has made reasonable adjustments. On top of this within certain roles, it may have been detailed in your employment contract whether you are able to continue to carry out your duties. 

Sharing your illness with your employee may be concerning but you might find it makes you feel better being able to share why you are struggling to undertake some tasks. Also you might find that people are very supportive of your condition and are more than happy to make allowances to help you fit into your role. 

Benefits

If you do have to give up work, there are benefits that you may be entitled to claim as a dementia patient. These can include care support benefits as well as getting access to universal credit. For more details on benefits for a dementia patient, see our article here.

For more support and to learn about your rights find out some information here: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5429