Supporting Health at Work: Accelerating Development of the era App

ONS reports (2018-2022) show that, in the UK, workers aged 50-64 are most likely to be absent from work due to ill health, an average of 6.1 days per year per worker (highest of all age groups); collectively 56.3M working days are lost per year. In addition, nearly one quarter of workers aged over 50 who permanently withdraw from the labour market before State Pension Age do so because of health reasons. Another ONS report (November 2024) notes that the majority of people who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness are aged between 50-64, and that this number is growing. Given workers aged 50+ (henceforth referred to as mid-later life workers, MLLW) comprise a third of the UK workforce, with that proportion set to rise with continued demographic trends, interventions focused on supporting health needs in the workplace of this age group are urgently needed. The Supporting Healthy Ageing at Work (SHAW, ES/V016148/1) project carried out interviews with 144 MLLW and their employers in four case study settings, following up with 48 individuals over a year-long co-design process. The research identified that many MLLW felt there was lack of support from employers in relation to their health and well-being needs as they got older. Employers were seen to lack organisational systems, processes and culture through which MLLW felt able to disclose sensitive aspects of health and well-being. There was a strong unmet need for workplace interventions to support personal and private reflection on own health needs, with sharing information with employers being optional. On the employer side, frustration was expressed at the seemingly low awareness and take-up of the support they currently offer for health and well-being. The era App was therefore created to help bridge these gaps. era combines validated health measures with AI to help employees explore and reflect on the ways in which their health and work interact, and to take action by matching health needs with appropriate employer support. Employee data are entirely confidential at the individual level, while aggregate data can be used by the employer to target health and well-being support to their workforce (or sections thereof). The current project aims to advance the path to commercialisation through the following activities: Conversion of existing web-based era App into a native app for mobiles to enhance its commercial potential, features and usability; Improve design specification via gamification – to encourage multiple visits so as individuals can build up a profile of their health and work over time in order to get the most benefit from the app; Widen market research, including emphasis on pricing, competitor analysis, honing distinctiveness etc. Explore different routes to commercialisation with a commercial partner era provides MLLW a way of seeking relevant organisational support without disclosing sensitive self-reported health and well-being information to Line Managers, HR or Occupational Health individuals and processes. It also offers significant benefits to employing organisations. era streamlines and curates access to existing employer health and wellbeing resources – making better use of these resources. Aggregated reports enable organisations to identify where employee health and well-being needs are not being met, allowing for focused workplace interventions to adapt structural barriers to employee needs.