Sustainable employability of ageing workers

Om het huidige welvaartsniveau te handhaven wordt van werknemers verwacht dat zij langer doorwerken dan voorheen. Ongeveer 40% van de werknemers ervaart problemen door het ouder worden en heeft behoefte aan ondersteuning om het werk te kunnen blijven uitvoeren. De aanwezigheid van een chronische aandoening wordt door 37% van de werknemers gerapporteerd. Veel factoren, vooral gerelateerd aan de specifieke werksituatie, dragen bij aan de duurzame inzetbaarheid met geen verschil in factoren voor werknemers met en zonder een chronische aandoening. Een interventie gericht op het vergroten van de inzetbaarheid vraagt om individueel maatwerk. Op basis van deze resultaten is de interventie ‘Gezond aan het werk (blijven)’ ontwikkeld, gericht op het vergroten van het probleemoplossend vermogen van werknemer en leidinggevende. De interventie biedt handvatten om werknemers te laten ervaren welke invloed zij zelf kunnen hebben in het bereiken van doelstellingen of het ondernemen van acties om inzetbaar te blijven. De interventiestrategie maakt werknemers bewust van de eigen rol en eigen verantwoordelijkheid. De leidinggevende ondersteunt hierin op procesniveau. De effectiviteit van de interventie is vergeleken met de gebruikelijke praktijk. De resultaten toonden geen positief effect op de primaire uitkomstmaten van duurzame inzetbaarheid na één jaar, namelijk werkvermogen, productiviteit en vitaliteit. Succesvolle elementen van de oplossingsgerichte strategie zijn dat werknemers anders tegen hun werk aankijken en dat zij zich meer bewust zijn van hun eigen kunnen en eigen verantwoordelijkheid om inzetbaar te blijven. In hoeverre deze interventie op de langere termijn bijdraagt aan duurzame inzetbaarheid dient nader onderzocht te worden. To maintain the current level of prosperity, employees are expected to work longer than before.. About 40% of workers experiences problems by ageing and needs support in order to remain able to perform their work. A chronic health condition was reported by 37% of the workers. Many factors, especially those related to the specific work situation, contribute to sustainable employability; no differences was found between workers with and without a chronic health condition. An intervention aimed at increasing sustainable employability requires an individually tailored approach. Based on these results the intervention "Staying healthy at Work" is developed to enhance sustainable employability. The intervention aims at increasing the problem solving skills of workers and should assist workers to solve problems associated with their working life, giving them confidence in their ability to effectively carry out actions which ensure their sustainable employability. The supervisor supports this process. The effectiveness of the intervention was compared with business as usual. The results showed no positive effect on the primary outcome measures of sustainable employability after one year. Successful elements of the intervention are that workers develop a different look at their own work in the short term and are more aware of their own ability and responsibility to remain employable. To what extent this intervention in the long term contribute to the outcomes measures of sustainable employability needs to be further investigated.

No association between preoperative physical activity level and time to return to work in patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty:A prospective cohort study

PURPOSE: It is important for patients of working age to resume work after total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). A higher preoperative level of physical activity is presumed to lead to a better or faster recovery. Aim is to examine the association between preoperative physical activity (PA) level (total and leisure-time) and time to return-to-work (RTW). METHODS: A prospective multicenter survey study. Time to RTW was defined as the length of time (days) from surgery to RTW. PA level was assessed with the SQUASH questionnaire. Questionnaires were filled in before surgery and 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months post-surgery. Multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for THA and TKA patients. RESULTS: 243 patients were enrolled. Median age was 56 years; 58% had undergone a THA. Median time to RTW was 85 (THA) and 93 (TKA) days. In the multiple regression analysis, neither preoperative total PA level nor leisure-time PA level were significantly associated with time to RTW. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative physical activity level is not associated with a shorter time to RTW in either THA or TKA patients. Neither preoperative total PA level nor leisure-time PA level showed an association with time to RTW, even after adjusting for covariates. TRIAL REGISTRY: Dutch Trial Register: NTR3497

The impact of patellar tendinopathy on sports and work performance in active athletes

Greater insight into sports and work performance of athletes with patellar tendinopathy (PT) will help establish the severity of this common overuse injury. Primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of PT on sports and work performance. Seventy seven active athletes with PT (50 males; age 28.1 +/- 8.2years; Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment Patella 56.4 +/- 12.3) participated in this survey. Sports performance, work ability and work productivity were assessed using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center overuse injury questionnaire, the single-item Work Ability Index and the Quantity and Quality questionnaire, respectively. Reduced sports performance was reported by 55% of the participants; 16% reported reduced work ability and 36% decreased work productivity, with 23% and 58%, respectively, for physically demanding work. This study shows that the impact of PT on sports and work performance is substantial and stresses the importance of developing preventive measures

Implementing sensor technology applications for workplace health promotion: a needs assessment among workers with physically demanding work

BACKGROUND: Workers with physically demanding work may be at risk for injury, illness or other adverse health outcomes due to exposure to different occupational hazards, especially at higher age. Sensor technology applications may be useful in the workplace to unobtrusively measure and monitor work exposures and provide workers with real-time feedback or access to data on demand. Many aspects might impede the implementation of sensor technology applications in the workplace, which should be taken into consideration for a successful implementation. Moreover, needs and preferences of workers regarding the use of sensor technology applications during work performance need to be identified. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify worker needs and preferences regarding the use of sensor technology applications in the workplace. METHODS: Four on-site focus group sessions were conducted in four different companies among workers with physically demanding work (n = 30). Semi-structured interview schedules were used to identify which work exposures should be measured, by which kind of sensor technology applications, under which (pre)conditions, how to motivate long-term use of sensor technology applications, and which type of feedback is preferred. For data analysis, a content-analysis with an inductive approach was performed. RESULTS: Participants mentioned that they want to use wearable sensor technology applications to measure and monitor physical job demands, occupational heat stress, noise and fatigue. Factors associated with quality, comfort and perceived ease of use were identified as potential barriers for implementation in the workplace. Long-term motivation was attributed to the ability to manage and monitor work exposures, positive feedback and data ownership. Participants indicated a need to both receive real-time feedback and access to data on demand. CONCLUSIONS: Sensor technology applications may support workers with physically demanding work to measure and monitor their work exposures. Potential barriers for implementation such as privacy aspects and quality, comfort and perceived ease of use of sensor technology applications need to be well considered to ensure successful implementation of sensor technology applications in the workplace

In-Depth Study of the Workers' Perspectives to Enhance Sustainable Working Life:Comparison Between Workers With and Without a Chronic Health Condition

<p>Purpose To gain in-depth understanding of the number and type of experienced ageing problems, obstacles to perform work tasks, retention factors to maintain work and support needs to continue working life in the next years among workers aged 45 years and older with and without a chronic health condition. Methods A survey of workers' perspectives on problems, obstacles, retention factors and needs due to ageing was carried out in 3,008 workers aged 45 years and older in nine different companies. To classify the open-ended questions we used the International Classification of Functioning and disability (ICF). Results Older workers with a chronic health condition reported more problems due to ageing (56 vs 34 %; p <.001), more obstacles (42 vs 16 %; p <.001) and more needs (51 vs 31 %; p <.001) compared to those without a chronic health condition. No relevant differences were found on type of experienced problems, obstacles, retention factors and needs between both groups. Problems and obstacles were found on physiological and psychological functions. Retention factors and needs to enhance sustainable working life were particularly reported on work-related environmental factors. Conclusion Because workers with a chronic health condition experienced more problems, obstacles and needs, the largest gain of occupational intervention can be achieved in these workers. However, our findings suggest that interventions aimed to enhance sustainable working life of older workers can be similar in content for persons with and without chronic health conditions and should have a central focus on work-related factors.</p>