overnight. From having numerous links to colleagues or customers, these communication channels go quiet. While of course, it is possible to be lonely at work, in fact, around 1 in 10 works say they feel lonely often or always2, those with long-term health conditions are almost three times more likely to experience loneliness than those without them3. Illness can create a barrier, stopping people connecting with others and making them feel like outsiders. The antidote to loneliness is moving back into contact with people. But if you are suffering an illness or injury, this is far from straightforward. Your mobility is likely to be impaired and you may feel self-conscious about your condition, not wanting to talk about it to others, not feeling worthy of their attention. This can seriously affect recovery and your ability to get back to work. The longer you are away from that working environment, the more remote it feels. It is easy to imagine things have moved on without you, that you can’t catch up and you’re not able to do what you once took for granted. The longer that a person is off work, the harder it is for them to get back and the likelihood rises that they will never return at all. Keeping that connection going with the outside world is a vital part of aiding recovery, preventing loneliness from taking hold and creating a barrier to full recovery. 09 SPRING PROTECT NEWSLETTER How income protection can help While the main purpose of income protection is to provide financial security to anyone who can’t work due to illness or injury, covering the essential bills, it can also do so much more than that. By providing a regular payment each month, it gives people the funds to maintain an element of their social life, maintaining that valuable connection with others during their recovery. Additional services, such as Friendly Voice also offer a lifeline. The confidential phone service to a personal nurse can offer emotional support and therapies helping to provide that vital link with another human, when contact to other people may be limited. Having this service available with an objective, trained professional helps to fight the feelings of isolation and loneliness, providing the motivation to get back to their former fitness. The key to growing awareness and interest in income protection may be talking about the full benefits of having cover, demonstrating the whole value of the package has to offer. Emotional wellbeing is key to recovery from illness and injury and we need to find a way to show that income protection can do more than protect the essentials, it can help provide that vital connection to the outside world. 1 - Facts and Statistics | Campaign to End Loneliness 2 - Facts and Statistics | Campaign to End Loneliness 3 - Loneliness at work report | research | British Red Cross
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