Employers toolkit for those with chronic conditions and pain

An employer’s support toolkit for people with chronic conditions and pain

Psychosocial employment support - client fact sheet

Quick links:

Download our patient information leaflet

A note about our psychosocial support programme for those living with chronic conditions and pain

The main referral route for adult clients accessing the programme was their GP, and to be eligible for support, they needed to be out of work and not currently seeking employment.

Rather than making anyone start or return to work before they’re ready, personalised help from a specialist social prescribing link worker supported people in the self-management of their pain or persistent physical symptoms, enabling them to find the space and energy for more meaningful activity in their lives, including taking steps towards work.

All the aspects of life having a potential impact on clients feeling able to work, or look for work, were addressed, no matter how long clients were away from employment.

The aim and the context; why the North East?

Having been part of the North East Combined Authority  (NECA)Economic Inactivity Trailblazer, through which Ways to Wellness received Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) funding to offer client-led psychosocial employment support to people who feel unable to work due to pain or their health, this digital toolkit has been informed by direct conversations with both the clients we’ve helped move closer to work, and regional employers that generously shared their experiences with us.

As of early 2026, North East England has the highest rate of economic inactivity due to long-term sickness in the UK, with chronic health conditions and pain serving as a primary driver for being out of work.

The region faces a persistent challenge in that more than a quarter of the working-age population is economically inactive, a figure that is costing our annual economy a staggering £18.4 billion.

To put that number in perspective, it would take one person earning the average full-time UK salary of £35,000 more than 525 years to earn this amount, and based on NHS figures using this salary as a baseline, the sum could be used to recruit more than 500,000 newly-qualified nurses.

In response to this challenge, this insight-led toolkit has been created to support the region’s employers and recruiters to better understand the challenges people with chronic conditions and pain face, whether seeking employment or aiming to stay in work, and provides practical guidance that can help individuals impacted by these issues to feel included, confident to contribute, and as productive as any other team member.

2. Who we help

To be eligible for support, clients must not be currently in work, or actively looking for work.

They must also:

✅ Be aged between 18 and 64

✅ Live in either Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside or Northumberland

✅ Be living with a chronic condition, or with pain or other symptoms that are preventing them from working. This can be a new development, or this may have been the case for several years

✅ Have the legal right to be able to work in the UK

Support, which is offered through a specialist social prescribing link worker, is non-medical and is intended to work alongside any medical treatment clients may be receiving to manage their symptoms.

4. Evaluation and evidence

This test and learn project started in August 2025 and is initially due to run to March 2026.

We have identified two categories of success measures that we would like to explore in this phase:

Improved quality of life for individuals

We will use validated tools to track progress, including the Pathway Star™, which assesses progress for people overcoming barriers to work, and the Pain Self Efficacy Questionnaire, developed to assess the confidence people in pain have in performing activities while in pain.

Measuring progress and personal outcomes

We will measure direct outputs and outcomes for clients, including access to basic skills, support to gain employment, and reduced structural barriers to employment and skills provision linked to health conditions.

We also intend to develop a theory of change for our approach, and will be participating in wider evaluation of the North East Combined Authority’s Trailblazer programme, to help us understand our wider impact.

5. Partners and funders

This project is funded by the North East Combined Authority as part of the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer, a £10 million programme funded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It aims to help over 2,000 people in the North East who are not working because of ill health.

An employer’s support toolkit for people with chronic conditions and pain

Quick links:

A note about our psychosocial support programme for those living with chronic conditions and pain

The aim and the context; why the North East?

2. Who we help

To be eligible for support, clients must not be currently in work, or actively looking for work.

They must also:

✅ Be aged between 18 and 64

✅ Live in either Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside or Northumberland

✅ Be living with a chronic condition, or with pain or other symptoms that are preventing them from working. This can be a new development, or this may have been the case for several years

✅ Have the legal right to be able to work in the UK

Support, which is offered through a specialist social prescribing link worker, is non-medical and is intended to work alongside any medical treatment clients may be receiving to manage their symptoms.

4. Evaluation and evidence

This test and learn project started in August 2025 and is initially due to run to March 2026.

We have identified two categories of success measures that we would like to explore in this phase:

Improved quality of life for individuals

We will use validated tools to track progress, including the Pathway Star™, which assesses progress for people overcoming barriers to work, and the Pain Self Efficacy Questionnaire, developed to assess the confidence people in pain have in performing activities while in pain.

Measuring progress and personal outcomes

We will measure direct outputs and outcomes for clients, including access to basic skills, support to gain employment, and reduced structural barriers to employment and skills provision linked to health conditions.

We also intend to develop a theory of change for our approach, and will be participating in wider evaluation of the North East Combined Authority’s Trailblazer programme, to help us understand our wider impact.

5. Partners and funders

This project is funded by the North East Combined Authority as part of the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer, a £10 million programme funded by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It aims to help over 2,000 people in the North East who are not working because of ill health.

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