The older worker

With the demographic trending towards an older workforce, this meeting will consider the implications of the increased prevalence of health conditions that might impact on work, including co-morbidities, and the potential increased risks to health from working to an older age.   

This issue has national policy implications, and Tabitha Jay, Director, of the DWP/DHSC Work and Health Unit will give a UK Government perspective. Speakers include Patrick Thomson, of the Centre for Better Ageing, and Dr Karla Greenberg, an expert on mental health in older age.  Practical considerations include driving, which will be set out by Dr Jeannette Lynch of DVLA.  

This will be the fifth year that the SOM and RSM will combine efforts to provide maximum value, and as in previous years the SOM annual Apothecaries Lecture will be delivered by a keynote speaker, Baroness Greengross, for this one day educational meeting. 

Other eminent speakers include Professor Ewan Macdonald of Glasgow University, and Professor Hans Martin Hasselhorn of the University of Wuppertal, both international experts in the field of work and ageing. 

Topics include:

• The current policy position towards older people at work 
• The implications for management by occupational health practitioners 
• Medical knowledge of older people with regard to frailty, cognitive function and co-morbidities