About Fit for Work
The Work Foundation’s Fit for Work project is supported by a research grant from Abbott, a global health care company. Fit for Work reports are produced independently by The Work Foundation, with full editorial control resting with The Work Foundation.
Fit for Work is a programme based on a groundbreaking study, conducted across 25 European countries in Europe and beyond, which examined the impact of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on an idividuals ability to work and therefore the impact to economies and society as a whole.
In 2007, The Work Foundation published UK research which demonstrated that improvements in early intervention, treatment and return to work practices could help people of working age, with even severe MSDs, stay in work. It found that there were often real health benefits associated with staying in, or returning to, work but that many employers, clinicians and even employees felt that temporary or permanent withdrawal from employment was the only option. In the UK, lost working time attributable to MSDs cost the economy £7 billion in 2007. The UK report, Fit for Work? Musculoskeletal Disorders and Labour Market Participation, gained the attention of policymakers and the media, and informed the evolution of Government thinking on the issue of early intervention, prompted a debate in the UK parliament and contributed to the initiation of a Government review of the costs and benefits of treatment and care for rheumatoid arthritis patients in the UK.
You can find contact information and full details of the project at www.fitforworkeurope.eu
This blog is written by the contributing authors. Weber Shandwick provides technical and administrative support through the FfW Press Office. Editorial content is independent and the identity of writer is clearly indicated against each post.