ENWHP workshop on job retention and return-to-work of employees with chronic illness

On Sunday, 24 August 2014 the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) hosted a side event at the XX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 2014 "Global Forum for Prevention" in Frankfurt. The ENWHP side event consisted of an interactive workshop on job retention and return-to-work of employees with chronic illness. The workshop presented the results of the campaign "Promoting healthy work for people with chronic illness (PH Work)", which identified successful strategies, programmes and good practices on company level preventing employees of moving into disability or early retirement.

Prof. dr. Karl Kuhn (ENWHP co-chair) kicked off the workshop with a small introduction to PH Work. Rob Gründemann (ENWHP member) provided the audience with a state of the art on the national return-to-work policies in Europe. He was followed by Nettie Van der Auwera (ENWHP secretariat), who presented the tools developed under PH Work: a guide to good practice & recommendations on job retention and return-to-work. Isabelle Burens (ENWHP member) showcased three good practices in companies, and Prof. Stephen Bevan (the Work Foundation) discussed research on working with three specific chronic diseases: multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and musculoskeletal disorders (Fit for Work). The workshop was concluded with half an hour of remarks and questions by the audience.