Conferentie Langer actief door innovatie in zorg en beleid, Den Haag - Hoofdinhoud

Joining hands for job retention with a chronic condition - Invitational conference

One in three people in the Netherlands will develop a chronic disorder at some time in their lives. Their numbers are growing and all too often chronic health problems cause people to give up their job. This can and must change, because staying in work benefits everyone: workers, employers and society.

Fit for Work supports continued working for people with chronic health problems by providing practical support for workers and employers, drawing the healthcare sector’s attention to the importance of labour participation and lobbying for government policy in support of continued working. The Fit for Work campaign is run by research organisation Centrum Werk Gezondheid, with support from pharmaceutical company AbbVie.

On 18 March the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER) issued an advisory report on working with a chronic illness (‘Werk: van belang voor iedereen - Een advies over werken met een chronische ziekte’), commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.

Fit for Work and the SER are both lobbying for greater consideration to be given to continued working in the event of chronic illness. The conference ‘Prolonging Active Life Through Innovation in Health care and Policy: Supporting continued working in the event of chronic illness’, to be held at the SER’s headquarters in The Hague on 25 May, is part of this effort.

The goal of the conference is to use the SER report to reveal what factors can help chronically ill workers retain their job, which parties can help and what impact healthcare innovations can have. Fit for Work will publish the outcomes of the conference in a declaration that can be used as a basis for specific follow-up actions and policy measures.

Programme

Innovations in health care and policy aimed at allowing chronically ill staff to continue working will be the focus of the conference. The afternoon will start with an address by Commissioner Marianne Thyssen (employment, social affairs, skills and labour mobility). The programme will also include a socioeconomic perspective on the importance of continued working in the event of chronic illness. The practical implications and prerequisites for innovations in health care will also be considered.

There will be further contributions from Professor Pauline Meurs (chair of the Council for Health and Society), Coen van der Veer (board member of trade union federation FNV), Harry van de Kraats (director of employers’ association AWVN) and Dianda Veldman (director of patients’ federation NPCF). MPs, stakeholders and experts will form a panel that will reflect on the speakers’ contributions, with ample opportunity for audience participation. Final details of the programme will be announced in April.

Delegates

This EU conference is intended for policymakers and administrators in the healthcare sector, academics, healthcare professionals and representatives of employees’ and employers’ associations. Attendance by invitation only.

Further information: www.ser.nl and www.fitforworknederland.nl

Documents

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  Program EU conference Fit for Work

  Conference fostering longer active lives through innovation in care and policy. Joining hands for job retention with a chronic...

  Publication | 18-04-2016