Work and health

A number of studies show that a lack of work has negative health consequences and that work is most often health-promoting. Far more people should be given the opportunity to participate in working life with and despite health problems. Health-promoting workplaces and an inclusive working life must be facilitated.

User groups in both the health services and NAV are struggling with mental/psychosocial problems, pain problems and/or complex health and life problems – problems that both sectors have challenges to face in a good way. Successful services for people with complex health and employment challenges usually require cross-collaboration. Isolated medical treatment or only work-oriented measures will often not be sufficient.

There is a need for more systematic knowledge development and dissemination in the field of work and health. An important goal of efforts in this programme area is to be based on issues relevant to the executive services. Efficacy studies should be supplemented with process evaluations that, among other things, examine the quality of the implementation and which content components affect the results. The programme area aims to stimulate broad interdisciplinary research collaboration. 

Relevant thematic areas:

• What promotes and inhibits more work-oriented health services – and how to ensure concurrency and integration into the medical and work-oriented efforts?
• How can knowledge-based co-operative models be implemented in the ordinary welfare and health services? What promotes and inhibits such implementation?
• Integration and digitization of the services and user pathways between the labour and health sectors. How can the health services' approaches and services contribute to employment law and NAV's efforts support this.
• The role and practice of sick leave, and whether the current sick leave and follow-up regime (division of duties between the actors, incentives, mileage piles, forms of communication, etc.) is appropriate. Can health literacy be better utilised to improve user runs?
• Guidance techniques, working methods and measures that promote work inclusion despite health failures
• Work inclusion used therapeutically and integrated into clinical treatment

The programme area works to strengthen cooperation between relevant research environments, educational pathways and practice practitioners within both NAV and the health service. This aims to ensure relevance in the education programmes and strengthen the development and implementation of new and necessary professional knowledge within NAV and the health service