Career guidance for older workers

Background: More than a quarter of people aged 50-64 years are economically inactive. Some lack adequate pensions to sustain an extended period of retirement. Inactivity is associated with poor mental and physical health. Social isolation, lack of a sense of purpose and identity, and financial worries may combine to aggravate health conditions. This has macro-economic consequences. It represents reduced tax revenues, and elevated health, social care and welfare benefit costs. It compromises economic growth, which the current UK Government has identified as its highest priority. Attempts to address inactivity have great social and economic value. The intervention: Career guidance combines elements of counselling, information and education. It promotes agency, to enable choices about work and learning that align with individual values. Although traditionally associated with young people, there is evidence that career guidance in mid to later working life can have benefits. This project will consider multiple potential delivery settings, including the workplace, national career services, public employment services, community and third sector organisations, and primary care. Career guidance can help to make work sustainable. It supports people in renegotiating or 'jobcrafting' their current employment relationship. It can facilitate retraining for a new occupation, or planning for a well-managed retirement. For the economically inactive, it can facilitate a return to work, and access to vocational training to make this possible. If work is not viable, it can promote access to healthy alternatives such as volunteering and adult learning. Outcomes are bespoke, but are likely to be active, sustainable, and informed by a thoughtful review of the person s relationship to work and learning. Aims: This development project will create a partnership with service providers, and service users. Using the theoretical lens of the Capability Approach, the study will generate a multi-faceted conception of career and well-being outcomes with which to evaluate services. This will prioritise service users understandings of the lifestyles they value. This work will underpin a large-scale full award study to evaluate the impact of career guidance on the health/well-being and employment of 50-64 year olds. Research Questions: What factors inform the career choices of older workers? What are the desirable features of a career intervention? What are the best approaches to measuring outcomes? Methods: Partnership building (WP1) will be ongoing throughout the 10 month duration of the project. Research questions will be addressed by (WP2) a scoping review of the literature; (WP3) qualitative data generated in interviews with practitioners and service users; (WP4) an assessment of quantitative outcome measurement tools. All stages of this project will be shaped by a Public Advisory Group, and this input from previous stages will be integrated through a structured consultation process using a modified Delphi study method (WP5). Dissemination: Project outputs will inform a large control trial, and include: (i) principles for service design; (ii) menu of options for service design; (iii) outcome criteria and measurement tools for evaluation. These be shared (WP6) via a project website, with written outputs and presentations targeted at all stakeholder groups, and accessible to the public.