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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Ageing, cognitive disorders and professional practice | | Author(s) | Deirdre Fitzgerald, Ruth-Anne Keane, Alex Reid, Desmond O'Neill |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 42, no 5, September 2013 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, September 2013 |
| Pages | pp 608-614 |
| Source | www.ageing.oxfordjournals.org |
| Keywords | Employment of older people ; Professional workers [elderly] ; Mental ageing ; Cognitive impairment ; Dementia ; Occupational health ; Policy. |
| Annotation | The workforce is ageing, and currently almost one in 10 of the population over 65 in the UK now continue in employment. The occupational health profiles of this group differ from those of younger workers. The aim of the present study was to establish whether consideration has been given by regulatory and professional bodies of the impact of ageing-related conditions such as dementia on professional practice. A questionnaire was e-mailed to 22 regulatory and professional bodies in the UK and the Republic of Ireland asking whether there were supports for their practitioners should they develop age-related diseases (particularly cognitive disorders), whether the body considered that the practitioner was responsible for their own health, and whether the body had resources to arrange for medical review for their professionals if concerns arose regarding competence. Where bodies did not respond, information relating to the questions was extracted from their on-line resources. Of the 13 bodies who responded, none had specific supports to assist older workers. Some knew of other supports (occupational health, employee assistance supports, benevolent funds or counselling services). All of the bodies who responded either had or were developing structures to deal with concerns regarding their practitioners. Overall findings of the study show that the absence of specific policies for age-related diseases (particularly dementia) among professional and regulatory bodies is a challenge for an ageing workforce in the liberal professions. Closer working between geriatric medicine, old age psychiatry, occupational health and professional bodies is recommended to develop age-attuned policies and systems which protect the public while supporting the professionals in both work and timely transition from work. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130906209 A |
| Classmark | GC: F:T7: D6: E4: EA: L:WK: QAD |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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