Marvin OnumonuThe National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has allocated over £7m to four research projects aimed at reducing health-related economic inactivity in the UK.
With long-term sickness accounting for 30% of inactivity, the NIHR’s work and health research initiative seeks to encourage a healthier and more active workforce.
This funding adds to the £1.5m already invested in 2023 for 13 research projects in the work and health area.
The projects focus on creating healthy jobs and using talking therapies for mental health issues that prevent work participation.
The research found crucial evidence supporting workforce participation and reducing health inequalities.
Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care and chief executive officer of the NIHR, said: “Investing in research to support employees to stay healthy and remain in work is crucial for the future of our economy.
“It has the potential to deliver substantial economic and social benefits for individuals, employers and wider society.
“The NIHR’s Work and Health Research Initiative builds on existing investment in research in this area, helping to support the UK’s economic growth and boost health and wellbeing across the UK.”
New studies are set to improve understanding of individuals with long-term conditions and how employers can aid in maintaining their health, benefitting both personal wellbeing and the economy.
The Workplace Intervention for Sustainable Health and Employment Support (WISHES) project, led by Professor Adam Whitworth at the University of Strathclyde, will look into job crafting to enhance employment and health, especially for disabled workers.
Whitworth said: “Workers with disabilities or health conditions are twice as likely to exit employment than their non-disabled counterparts.
“However, current workplace interventions struggle to effectively support many disabled workers due in part to their top-down, targeted and reactive approach.
“This leaves significant gaps in the research and effectiveness of workplace support for workers with disabilities and health conditions which is bad news for workers, employers and government.”
Whitworth added: “Most workplace interventions focus on trying to change workers. For lots of reasons that is not normally helpful – or fair – for disabled workers because it ignores the importance of the nature of work and workplaces as well as people’s differing needs and strengths.
“In contrast, our project emphasises changing the nature of work itself using a social model of disability that empowers disabled workers and that recognises the important interaction between disabled people and their work environments.”
He said: “Our project, WISHES: Workplace Intervention for Sustainable Health and Employment Support, will trial whether job crafting can help workers with health conditions, disabilities or potentially other workplace support needs to make positive changes to their jobs and workplaces to improve their employment and health outcomes.
“Job crafting is quite a new idea. The emerging research evidence shows that job crafting interventions have a positive effect on burnout and work engagement.”
He added: “However, the evidence is limited in various important ways, including rarely being tested amongst workers with health conditions or disabilities and rarely with the ambitious range of outcomes and evaluation techniques that WISHES includes.
“We are excited to get started with this important project and to grow the international evidence base around how job crafting might play a role in supporting workers with health conditions and disabilities to thrive in their workplaces.”
The Supply chain Health Initiative Evaluation (SHINE) project, led by Jo Yarker of Affinity Health at Work and Dr. Vaughan Parsons of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, will focus on health and wellbeing services (HWS) to better support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through existing supply chains.
Professor Rowena Jacobs at the University of York will investigate the NHS Talking Therapies Employment Advisers Programme under the Support2Work project.
This study will find out if employment advisers working with therapists could improve mental health and job retention, and potentially reduce healthcare costs and boost the economy.
In collaboration with various organisations, Professor Chris Warhurst at the University of Warwick will explore the link between job quality and health.
This project aims to develop new methods for examining how certain jobs impact workers’ mental and physical health.
