The labour shortage and aging working population are challenges that concern the entire Europe. Because of the population structure, more employees are leaving the working life than entering it. Due to this development, it is crucial to find ways to make working careers longer and reduce the need to retire early.
Disability-related retirement contributes to employees’ early departure from working life. The most common reasons for disability-related retirement are musculoskeletal diseases and mental disorders, such as depression and substance abuse. Occupational healthcare plays a key role in preventing and addressing these issues.
How does occupational healthcare affect work ability and early retirement?
Pihlajalinna’s occupational health and general practice specialist Jarmo Kuronen, MD, has studied how occupational healthcare can reduce the need for a permanent work disability retirement. Kuronen’s dissertation was made in collaboration with companies and employees and the research material consisted of quality assessments of themes such us supporting employees’ work ability, health check-ups of the partially disabled, and the treatment of mental health and substance abuse problems.
The study considered the following questions:
- Can quality networking in occupational healthcare reduce disability retirement?
- Can support measures aimed at recovering the ability to work reduce the need for disability retirement?
- Which factors affect occupational physicians’ and occupational nurses’ activity to tackle excessive drinking among employees?
- Do the initiation, process and outcome of measures to support the ability to work follow national laws, guidelines and recommendations?
Role of cooperation in preventing incapacity for work
The study showed that the systematic improvement of the quality of occupational healthcare can reduce the occurrence of permanent work disability retirements significantly. Joining an occupational healthcare quality network was enough to produce positive results. In particular, intervening in excessive drinking, monitoring work ability risks and providing training for occupational health personnel had a great impact on the results.
The results underline that measures impacting the functioning of the entire work community, such as active intervention in work ability issues, contribute more to reducing incapacity for work than, for example, offering more efficient care for a singular disease. The study also highlighted supervisors’ and employees’ own initiative in carrying out measures to support the ability to work.
The study produced new information on the impact of quality networking in occupational healthcare on preventing work disability retirements, identifying alcohol problems and supporting employees with partial work ability. The study showed that occupational healthcare plays a role in decision-making even though workplaces have the main responsibility in supporting the personnel’s ability to work.
Systematic cooperation bears fruit
Pihlajalinna’s research results show that high-quality and systematic cooperative occupational healthcare can support employers’ in maintaining their personnel’s ability to work and reduce the occurrence of work disability retirements effectively. Occupational healthcare’s involvement in decision-making processes is important, but it is also essential that workplaces actively initiate measures to support the personnel’s ability to work.
To learn more about occupational healthcare’s role in addressing work disability retirement and supporting the ability to work, read Jarmo Kuronen’s dissertation in full here.
Further reading