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Social status and living with a chronic illness: an exploration of assessment and meaning attributed to work and employment

Social status and living with a chronic illness: an exploration of assessment and meaning attributed to work and employment
Social status and living with a chronic illness: an exploration of assessment and meaning attributed to work and employment
Background
Traditional measures of social status are predicated on position in the labour market. There has been less attention directed to the meanings of social position for people with a long-term condition whose relationship to employment is precarious. Previous research has demonstrated that the MacArthur scale is capable of capturing contextualised aspects of social status, which makes it a useful tool for exploring changes in meaning.

Aims
The paper explores the meanings and experiences of social status of people living with a long-term condition with particular reference to employment status.

Methods
A sample of 300 participants was drawn from diabetes and chronic heart disease registers of General Practices in North West England. A cross-sectional survey with nested qualitative interviews was used in collecting and analysing the data.

Findings
Having financial independence and participating in valued activities are more important for people with chronic illness than power and status mediated through the labour market. Income and the lack and loss of employment were given a central role in respondents’ narratives reflecting the absence of acceptable alternative routes through which social status for those with a long-term condition can realistically be rebuilt outside of participation in the labour market.

Conclusion
Social participation, where people with chronic illness feel valued and of tangible utility to other people, might offer some opportunities for rebuilding social status outside the labour market. Chronic illness management interventions need to focus on improving people’s engagement with such activities.
1742-3953
273-290
Vassilev, I.
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Rogers, Anne
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Chraghi-Sohi, Sudeh
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Blickem, Christian
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Brooks, Helen
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Kapadia, Dharmi
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Reeves, David
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Doran, Tim
10a4fd47-ed06-49ec-ad8a-26a124730fd8
Kennedy, Anne
e059c1c7-d6d0-41c8-95e1-95e5273b07f8
Sanders, Caroline
1121a9ec-e719-489a-9ffd-ae8cb6e49a78
Vassilev, I.
d76a5531-4ddc-4eb2-909b-a2a1068f05f3
Rogers, Anne
105eeebc-1899-4850-950e-385a51738eb7
Chraghi-Sohi, Sudeh
1dce8375-7e7a-4b04-842d-af9700740d2a
Blickem, Christian
cc3228ac-f56e-4dca-9aae-cbb6bfac4fb3
Brooks, Helen
0056a0c8-f97a-4215-99e1-652291fcd6eb
Kapadia, Dharmi
1adf5ad0-bcf5-4776-9e18-05e0b8f5395e
Reeves, David
4d9f4b50-445c-4257-81fe-4d6fa73a9891
Doran, Tim
10a4fd47-ed06-49ec-ad8a-26a124730fd8
Kennedy, Anne
e059c1c7-d6d0-41c8-95e1-95e5273b07f8
Sanders, Caroline
1121a9ec-e719-489a-9ffd-ae8cb6e49a78

Vassilev, I., Rogers, Anne, Chraghi-Sohi, Sudeh, Blickem, Christian, Brooks, Helen, Kapadia, Dharmi, Reeves, David, Doran, Tim, Kennedy, Anne and Sanders, Caroline (2014) Social status and living with a chronic illness: an exploration of assessment and meaning attributed to work and employment. Chronic Illness, 10 (4), 273-290. (doi:10.1177/1742395314521641). (PMID:24486894)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background
Traditional measures of social status are predicated on position in the labour market. There has been less attention directed to the meanings of social position for people with a long-term condition whose relationship to employment is precarious. Previous research has demonstrated that the MacArthur scale is capable of capturing contextualised aspects of social status, which makes it a useful tool for exploring changes in meaning.

Aims
The paper explores the meanings and experiences of social status of people living with a long-term condition with particular reference to employment status.

Methods
A sample of 300 participants was drawn from diabetes and chronic heart disease registers of General Practices in North West England. A cross-sectional survey with nested qualitative interviews was used in collecting and analysing the data.

Findings
Having financial independence and participating in valued activities are more important for people with chronic illness than power and status mediated through the labour market. Income and the lack and loss of employment were given a central role in respondents’ narratives reflecting the absence of acceptable alternative routes through which social status for those with a long-term condition can realistically be rebuilt outside of participation in the labour market.

Conclusion
Social participation, where people with chronic illness feel valued and of tangible utility to other people, might offer some opportunities for rebuilding social status outside the labour market. Chronic illness management interventions need to focus on improving people’s engagement with such activities.

Text
Main document Social status and chronic illness Revised Version Resubmitted.doc - Other
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 28 December 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 31 January 2014
Published date: 1 December 2014
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 364873
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/364873
ISSN: 1742-3953
PURE UUID: c6d2efa1-3ac1-4285-8b67-b5f0cecdc222
ORCID for I. Vassilev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2206-8247
ORCID for Anne Kennedy: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4570-9104

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 May 2014 13:02
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:47

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Contributors

Author: I. Vassilev ORCID iD
Author: Anne Rogers
Author: Sudeh Chraghi-Sohi
Author: Christian Blickem
Author: Helen Brooks
Author: Dharmi Kapadia
Author: David Reeves
Author: Tim Doran
Author: Anne Kennedy ORCID iD
Author: Caroline Sanders

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