I am caught in a conflict.
In my role as a Return to Work Coordinator I know that a person with a degenerative, age-related pre-existing condition can report an aggravation of that injury, allegedly work-related, and be covered “to the extent of the aggravation” by Work Cover, for which the employer is obviously paying premiums. No-one can tell me how you can separate the condition from the aggravation for treatment purposes, but I am open to suggestions.
As I age (even though I am by no means “old”) I am noticing more aches and pains of my own. I have a pre-existing degenerative condition in my lower spine, made worse by the presence of mild scoliosis. I have macular degeneration in my right eye. I have osteo-arthritis in both thumbs. None of that stops me from working, walking, body combat, swimming, and whatever else I chose to do. I am aware of my aches and pains, and I hope that, should I “aggravate” one of them at work, it would not require Work Cover intervention.
Today hubby and I signed up as Dementia Champions - http://campaign.fightdementia.org.au/. This is a cause very close to my heart as I am very aware of my forgetfulness as I get older. I forget words, I forget names, I forget where I put things. My hope is that this is merely normal ageing, and not early stages of early-onset Alzheimer’s or dementia.
I have always had a bright, enquiring and logical mind. Many years ago I sat and passed the Mensa entry requirements. I read copiously, I have studied off and on throughout my adult years, I enjoy crosswords and Sudoku. I can’t imagine not being able to imagine, not being able to focus or think or recall or understand. It really scares me.
So, the conflict I face is whether I turn a blind eye to the trend to medicalise everyday life through “work-related aggravation of a pre-existing condition”. 100 years ago the average age expectancy for women was 51 years. In the decade of my birth that had risen to 72 years, and female children now can expect to live for at least 79 years. For men, the comparable figures are 48, 66 and 78. In other words, 100 years ago many of the age-related degenerative conditions we now commonly see simply didn’t exist. Add to the age-related conditions those disorders resulting from night clubs and boom boxes (deafness), texting (RSI) and many others allied with the technological society in which we live, and the situation reaches critical mass. You’re going to get something as you get older, we just can’t predict what yet.
As the average age of the population rises and medical advances allow us to live longer, it will be interesting the watch how the politicians manage such things as Work Cover to ensure that the burden of treatment for medicalised every day events are not borne unfairly by the employer.
I think, right now, they’re all too scared to tackle the problem. And make no mistake, it is a problem, and only likely to get a lot worse.
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