Individual and Occupational Determinants: Work Ability in People with Health Problems

There are individual and professional factors that have the greatest impact on the preservation of work ability for people of advanced age, and people with chronic health issues and disabilities. This text examines the demographic trends in the population and shows that proper functioning in their lives is only possible if people are provided with appropriate psychosocial and physical working conditions. This publication discusses physiological changes that occur with age and influence work performance. It presents the concept of applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in order to assess the work ability of people with disabilities. It shows, using examples and case studies, that practical activities aimed at appropriate working conditions for people of advanced age, and people with health issues and disabilities, will have excellent work ability.

Features

• Presents a comprehensive approach to workplace tolerance for people with health issues
• Offers an innovated in-depth evaluation of the Work Ability Index (WAI)
• Presents applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to access the work ability of people with disabilities
• Outlines actions that should be taken to maintain work ability for people of advanced age or with disabilities
• Provides real case studies and analysis.

"Demographic changes, especially those related to aging, belong to the main changes occurring in the contemporary working environment. Thus, preserving work ability in the older population as well as [populations with] health concerns are among the most important challenges of today. Accordingly, the monograph fits into the most recent issues of [this] public health area, focusing on work ability in populations at risk of social exclusion, also occupational exclusion. These are older people, persons with chronic diseases and those with different types of disabilities.
In my opinion, highlighting the problem of work ability in the context of aging by the authors, in such a broad understanding, is extremely valuable and useful and the presented research outcome is an authentic and very much expected contribution to the discussion on this issue. The topic has been thoroughly presented, which undoubtedly results from the interdisciplinarity of the group of authors including specialists in work physiology, physicians and physiotherapists. The monograph provides a very measurable and reliable knowledge in this field. Combining the theory with the presentation of the authors’ research outcomes is an unquestionable advantage of the monograph…".
―Jolanta Walusiak-Skorupa, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

Joanna Bugajska, PhD, D.Med.Sc. is the Manager of the Department of Ergonomics at the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute in Warsaw. Her scientific, publication and area of expertise includes; assessment of workload and the health effects of excessive loads; type of work, the method of its performance and the occurrence of musculoskeletal overload disorders; individual and professional factors shaping work ability; principles of shaping work requirements to the psychophysical capabilities of the worker; impact of lifestyle, including physical professional and non-professional activity with disabilities. Joanna Bugajska is the author of 120 scientific publications including 92 publications indexed in international scientific databases and many speeches at scientific conferences nationally and abroad.

Teresa Makowiec-Dąbrowska, PhD, D.Med.Sc. is a long-term employee of the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Łódź. She has nearly 50 years of experience in the field of work physiology. Her scientific, publication and area of expertise includes: impact of the circadian rhythm on physiological functions and work ability; assessment of workload and the health effects of excessive loads; the impact of the methods of work performance on the locomotor systems; physiological capabilities related to the requirements of the profession – work ability assessment; principles of shaping loads for employees of changed capabilities; impact of lifestyle, including physical professional and non-professional activity on health, quality of life and work ability. Teresa Makowiec-Dąbrowska is the author of 200 scientific publications (including 92 publications indexed in international scientific databases) and many speeches at scientific conferences nationally and abroad.