"We liaise with an individual’s employer and occupational health if needed and provide input beyond the first day at work to ensure that they can remain at work for the long term."
- Dr Julie Denning, Managing Director at Working To Wellbeing
The return-to-work rehabilitation specialist’s programme is a clinically led and evidence-based support service which will enable individuals to self-manage characteristics of their neurodivergence and remain in or return to the workforce. This will take a holistic, person-centred approach, focusing on physical, cognitive, psychological, emotional, and practical support needs.
Health coaching will be provided by Working To Wellbeing; this will have a strong vocational bias to help people restore their day-to-day functioning and quality of life. According to the latest data from the National Autistic Society, as many as 143k people were waiting for an autism assessment as of June 2023 – this is a 47% increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from ADHD UK, showed that waiting lists vary in time, depending on an individual’s local NHS trust, with the shortest waiting time sat at twelve weeks and the longest at five-hundred-and-fifty weeks.
This programme is available to anyone who’s neurodivergent and struggling at work, with or without an official diagnosis. The process with see employers issue referrals to the insurer, which will prompt an initial assessment by Working To Wellbeing to understand the individual’s current challenges and what difficulties they’re facing in the workplace. From here, the team can determine what support is required and provide recommendations.
“People who’re neurodivergent can find it challenging to manage in certain work environments which can result in both professional and personal difficulties if they aren’t appropriately supported in the workplace,” said Dr Julie Denning, Managing Director at Working To Wellbeing. She believes this programme will enable individuals to “understand and implement effective tools and strategies to increase wellbeing and improve overall productivity.”
“With around one in seven people in the UK considered neurodivergent, it’s important that employers understand the implications of a neurodiverse workforce, provide the reasonable adjustments required, and upskill line managers to lead neurodivergent teams,” she concluded.