Worker impairment: issues beyond alcohol or drugs.
OBJECTIVE
One of my older colleague's work is steadily declining, and sometimes her judgment seems "off," and she is easily distracted. Alcohol and drugs are most certainly not the problem nor is this a disability that is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, requiring accommodation. I want to help, but I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions?


METHODS
Deteriorating performance often is associated with difficulty with perception, memory, task perseverance, and reasoning skills-in other words, cognitive impairment. It's observant of you to note that alcohol/drugs are not an issue. Most people associate declining performance with alcohol or drug abuse for good reason; more often than not, employee assistance programs (EAPs) find alcoholism and drug abuse when employees are referred to them, and in fact, EAPs were initially developed with alcohol-related problems in mind. EAPs now offer help in many more situations, including situations like this.
Zanni
Guido R
GR
Alexandria, VA, USA.
Wick
Jeannette Y
JY
D000375:Aging; D004651:Employment; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D016272:Occupational Health; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration