Work Life Innovations Designed for and Created by Older Workers: Implications for Job Retention and Health

Introduction: Both aging workers and employers are developing innovations in work life to accommodate the needs of the rapidly increasing number of older workers. Some of these innovations are aimed at workforce retention and others are aimed at health outcomes. Still others are aimed at improving the fit between older workers and their jobs and are aimed at effectively managing the transition between full-time work and retirement. While some of these innovations are developed by government agencies and employers, there are also many innovations developed by workers themselves as they attempt to adapt to working conditions and to manage the demands of the rapidly changing policy and benefit environment. A survey of these innovations is needed to identify promising new approaches for further research on their impact  

Methods:  A survey of research was conducted to identify promising innovations for the aging workforce aimed at the goals of worker retention, worker well-being, or organizational effectiveness. Both the research and practitioner literature was surveyed. Promising studies were identified and characteristics of innovative programs were recorded.  

Results:  Results are reported for innovations developed by individuals or collaborative groups of workers on the one hand, and organizations on the other. Results are described in terms of individual and organizational objectives, format for the innovation, nature of implementation, and outcomes for worker health and retention where available.  

Discussion: The results suggest that, while organizations are active in developing strategies for retention and health improvement for older workers, a significant number of individual workers and worker groups are also developing innovations to promote long term worker health and well-being. There is a notable lack of rigorous research on the effectiveness of these innovations however, and further research is needed both to identify particularly effective innovations and to inform future policy.