The capability set for work: development and validation of a new questionnaire

28th of April 2020

by Abma FI, Brouwer S, de Vries HJ, Arends I, Robroek SJW, Cuijpers MPJ, van der Wilt GJ, Bültmann U, van der Klink JJL

Article related to the NIVA course A Life Course Approach to Work and Health, 27th – 29th of October 2020 at Grand Hotel, Reykjavik, Iceland

In many countries, governments stimulate participation of older workers by an increase of retirement age combined with a decrease of possibilities for early retirement, leading to an ageing workforce. Because older people are more likely to have a chronic disease(s), an increase of workers with health problems in the workforce is expected. At the same time, criteria for awarding disability benefits are getting stricter, giving rise to the question how to enable workers to participate in work in a sustainable way. On the personal, organizational, and societal level it is important that people experience work not as a burden but as a valuable part of their life course. This is a challenge that requires renewed attention for the interrelationship between work and health, with a special focus on sustainable employability and the importance of valued work.

The newly developed questionnaire to measure the capability set for work is unique because the items go beyond the valued aspects of work by incorporating whether a worker is able to achieve what he/she values in his/her work. The results show that the capability for work questionnaire can serve as a proxy measure of sustainable employability.

Read the full article and references here.

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