Astriid’s CEO, Steve Shutts, and Candidate Coordinator, Deborah Bircham (herself a Lyme sufferer) talked about how Astriid can support people with long-term illnesses back into the workplace.
Lyme disease is the most common and fastest-spreading vector-borne disease in Europe, yet it is one of the most under-researched illnesses in the Western world. Approximately 9,000 new cases are diagnosed in the UK each year. A third of Lyme disease sufferers never fully recover. Caudwell Lyme’s patient survey from 2016 found that 50% of those with Lyme were unable to work at all, and around 18% were able to work part time.
Caudwell LymeCo is a UK-based charity whose mission is to fund research that finds an accurate diagnostic test for Lyme, and a treatment that cures patients at all stages of the disease and for every Lyme disease patient in the UK to be treated and completely cured on the NHS.
Currently, there are serious gaps in the scientific evidence on how to diagnose Lyme disease reliably, how to cure it in everyone and even on how it spreads. The NHS and the Department of Health have openly recognised this, and Caudwell LymeCo aims to support them in working constructively to resolve this complex problem.
Educating the public on Lyme disease prevention and awareness, Caudwell Lyme provides information and support to sufferers, based on the NICE guidelines.
Many sufferers lose their jobs through illness, but do want to return to employment for financial and personal reasons. Therefore, we hope many will find this session useful, and that there are ways for people to return to work in a job they enjoy and have the support to manage.
Watch the full webinar here: