Health and Wellbeing @ Work 2008
Dr Joanne Crawford, Senior Consultant Ergonomist at IOM presented to delegates at the conference on Work Ability in Older Workers in the Age Diversity session on the second day (6th March). The presentation aimed to examine the myths with regard to older workers and ageing at work and presented information on the Finnish concept of Work Ability and the Work Ability Index (WAI). Although the WAI has not been widely used in the UK, there have been several projects where it has been administered successfully as an occupational health tool. These were summarised within the session.
The presentation also raised questions with regard to where we go next in the United Kingdom. With changing population demographics there is a clear need to maintain health and wellbeing within older working adults and those returning to the workforce in later life. Although work ability can be measured, we need to identify relevant workplace interventions that will maintain people at work while bearing in mind those barriers to work in later life can be varied and not based on health alone. Thus a multidisciplinary approach to age management may be the way forward in successfully achieving this in the UK.