Health promotion in workplaces with a large share of older employees. The situation in Poland
Background In the nearest decades, the ageing process in Poland is likely to intensify, leading to the shrinking of workforce. An increase in the share of older employees having worse health may deteriorate certain worksite parameters (i.e., resulting in increased sickness absence). Enterprises may...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Medycyna Pracy |
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| Online Access: | http://www.journalssystem.com/medpr/Promocja-zdrowia-w-zakladach-pracy-o-duzym-udziale-starszych-pracownikow-Sytuacja,112517,0,2.html |
| Summary: | Background
In the nearest decades, the ageing process in Poland is likely to intensify, leading to the shrinking of workforce. An
increase in the share of older employees having worse health may deteriorate certain worksite parameters (i.e., resulting in increased
sickness absence). Enterprises may face such challenges by promoting employees’ health. The paper aims at answering the question
whether enterprises with a large share of older employees (aged ≥55) are more aware of the ageing process and more interested in
promoting health of their personnel than organizations hiring mostly younger employees.
Material and Methods
The survey covered
926 companies selected from a representative sample of 1000 enterprises in Poland hiring ≥50 employees, which were aware of
the share of employees aged ≥55 among their staff. The analyses were conducted in 4 groups of enterprises, depending on the share
of ageing employees, i.e., enterprises not hiring such employees (N = 43), and enterprises with ageing employees accounting for
less than one-fourth (N = 493), from one-fourth to a half (N = 335), or more than a half (N = 55) of their personnel. Standardized
computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) with delegates of the boards were held in October–November 2017.
Results
Organizations
with the majority of older employees have the greatest awareness of population ageing, its consequences and the deepest sense
of investing in employees’ health. They are also more willing than worksites not employing people aged ≥ 55 to analyze the health
needs of their personnel of different age and to implement health promotion measures. The problem is that they are less interested
in the evaluation of such activities.
Conclusions
Although enterprises employing mostly people aged ≥ 55 are the most aware of
population ageing and likely to implement many health promotion measures, many of them appear to neglect this demographic process. Many companies promoting employees’ health do so for other reasons than to diminish the consequences of population ageing.
Thus, employers should be made aware of the inevitability of ageing and health promotion as a tool in coping with the outcomes of
that process. They should also be encouraged to evaluate their health promotion measures. Med Pr. 2020;71(2):153–76 |
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| ISSN: | 0465-5893 2353-1339 |