Opinions of ageing workers on relative importance of health promotion

This study describes individual, workplace and occupational health-promoting factors, and their impacts for worker's health from the perspective of ageing Finnish workers. The pretested questionnaire was sent to 150 ageing workers, of whom 93 returned the form. Statistical analyses were performed using frequencies, means, Mann-Whitney U-test and Krushkal-Wallis test. Over 90% of respondents stated that health habits, individual arrangements in the workplace, good workplace atmosphere, access to health checks, counselling and nursing care all represented important factors for health promotion. Better health, work satisfaction and motivation of employees were the main factors impacting on health promotion. Ageing workers stated that health and safety organization and rehabilitation institutes were the most important copartners. Management must take a positive attitude towards ageing workers and make the necessary arrangements to support their well-being and this should be done in collaboration with occupational health professionals.