Living and Working Longer: Meeting the Challenges

Article

Like the general population, the US workforce is aging a trend that is posing challenges for workplace health and safety.

Like the general population, the US workforce is aging—a trend that is posing challenges for workplace health and safety. At this year’s Safety 2015 conference, the session “The Silver Tsunami, Are You Ready for the Shifting Age Paradigm?” emphasized that our aging workforce is a serious issue that will affect many companies.1 “We have older people doing jobs that probably older people shouldn’t be doing,” said Scott B. Lassila, vice president of Aon Global Risk Consulting.

Age can affect many physical conditions, such as vision, flexibility, balance, and muscle strength. Additionally, the risk of cancer, obesity, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease increases with age. As a result, older workers have higher rates of absenteeism and longer recovery times when injured.

In the coming decades, keeping aging workers healthy will be vitally important to growing and starting businesses, and ensuring the strength of the overall economy. When workers stay safe and healthy, businesses have reduced insurance premiums and workers’ compensation costs, as well as fewer workdays lost to illness or injury. As a business strategy for maintaining the health and productivity of all workers, “Wellness programs work,” said Lassila, who highly recommends that human resources managers investigate and implement these programs.

Pharmacists are also having a positive impact on the health of our aging population. No matter what setting pharmacists work in, they interact with patients who are experiencing the effects of aging. In addition to providing older patients with essential medications and monitoring their adherence, pharmacists can empower patients with information and offer other health care options so that patients can choose the best course for their health.

With this Aging Population issue, Pharmacy Times supports pharmacists in their efforts to provide the best possible care to older individuals. Please enjoy the aging-related articles in this issue, including “Hypothermia in Seniors: Stay Safe and Warm this Winter,” “The Aging Population: The Increasing Effects on Health Care,” “Memory Loss: When It’s Not Just Forgetfulness,” and “Parkinson’s Disease: Deep Brain Stimulation.” In addition, check out our recent online-only aging-related articles on pharmacytimes. com: “Prescription Drug Pricing Under Senate Investigation,” “Think Positive About the Aging Process,” and “What Do Patients Know About Heart Failure?”

With this first issue of 2016, we wish you and your families a very happy and healthy New Year! Please know that Pharmacy Times is here to help you excel in all your professional endeavors as we celebrate 119 years of publication.

Thank you for reading!

Mike Hennessy

Chairman and CEO

Reference

  • Paraventi M. Keeping older workers safe and healthy. Industrial Safety & Hygiene News website. ishn.com/ articles/101618-keeping-older-workerssafe- and-healthy. Published June 9, 2015. Accessed November 5, 2015.

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