Occupational Health, Well-Being, and Aging

Abstract

Health is not merely the absence of disease but a multidimensional construct, reflecting dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being (Pinquart 2001). Frequently used objective indicators of physical health are, for instance, blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, psychosomatic complaints, fatigue, and insomnia. Frequently used indicators of mental health or psychological well-being are feelings of anxiety, depression, and irritation. Social well-being is characterized by social support, social connectedness, and low social exclusion. These dimensions of health are usually assessed in terms of an individual’s subjective self-rated perceptions of well-being (Ng and Feldman 2013). The literature on well-being, more specifically, differentiates between hedonic well-being (i.e., high levels of life-domain satisfaction, general life satisfaction, positive affect, and a low level of negative affect) and eudaimonic well-being (i.e., successful personal development in terms of purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and competence) (Delle Fave et al. 2011). For occupational health, the dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being are described in the context of work. Over time, constraints in occupational health may result in a decline in an individual’s performance and to chronic health and well-being problems such as symptoms of burnout, depression, and cardiovascular diseases. With regard to the concept of age, one needs to differentiate between an older adult as compared to an older worker. The age range in the active workforce is narrower than the age range in the general population. People typically retire at the age of 65. Thus, the usual cutoff point for older workers in research is 40 years of age. In contrast, an older adult in the general population is older than 65 or 70 years of age (Ng and Feldman 2013).