Getting back to work after hip or knee replacement is important. Working has a number of health benefits. These include:
- Mental Health: Keeping the mind busy and seeing other people can help people to recover after surgery. Talking to people reduces stress and anxiety and helps them to feel better.
- Physical Health: Working helps to improve strength, stamina and flexibility as people recover after surgery.
- Social Health: Meeting friends and colleagues outside of the home helps people to feel supported as they recover.
- Financial Health: Earning money enables people to support themselves and their families.
Because of these benefits, it is important to support early return to work after surgery and reduce unnecessary sickness absence.
Remember people do not need to be fully recovered to go back to work
Not everyone goes back to their “normal” work straight away. Many people make changes at work to help them return. This can include changes to the workplace, their pattern of work and/or the number of hours they work. They then return to their usual job role and hours as they recover to full fitness.
Further information about how you can help support your colleagues return to work can be found in the “Resources” section. There you can find useful information about phased or modified return to work, reducing hours and altering patterns of work to enable an early return to work, making alterations to the workspace or work environment, improving accessibility and mobility at work, and colleague support.