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| A jobless man sits alone an a park in Tokyo. A recent research has revealed that a person who is off work for a month or two is likely to spoil his health. |
A recent study has revealed that the health risks of being out of work are equivalent to smoking ten packets of cigarettes a day
A stuntman who goes back to work after an accident has better long—term
heath prospects than one who doesn’t. So has a nurse, a construction
worker or a computer technician.
“The health consequences of being out of the workforce are far greater
than many other long-term diseases and they’re certainly greater than
working in a dangerous industry,” said Mary Wyatt.
The Melbourne occupational physician has just completed a major study
for The Royal Australian College of Physicians looking at the
ramifications of a trend that has seen more and more Australians
claiming a disability pension rather than going back to work after an
accident or illness.
Since 2001 there has been a 70—per—cent increase in requests for
sickness certificates that entitle the holder to welfare payments.
“Even the risk to the health of the kids of people out of work goes up
significantly,” Ms. Wyatt said. “The risk of suicide, especially among
males, goes up.” She estimated that the health risks of being out of
work are the equivalent of smoking ten packets of cigarettes a day.
“It sounds ridiculous but that’s the reality,” Ms. Wyatt said.
“Marriages break-up, people end up in quite awful situations.” Part of
the problem is that doctors sign certificates knowing that the recipient
could work if he or she wanted to.
The Centre for Independent Studies estimates that half the 670,000
people now claiming a disability support pension (DSP) are capable of
working. The number of work—age adults claiming the DSP has doubled to 5
per cent of the workforce in the past 20 years.
Why are so many claiming that musculoskeletal disorders — most commonly,
bad backs — are preventing them going back to work? And why are doctors
letting them when the best interests of their patients would be served
by a swift return to work? The questions are particularly apposite in
Australia because, with the unemployment rate at 5 per cent, it has
rarely been easier to find work.
“A lot of it is attitudinal,” Ms. Wyatt said. “It’s not understood by
medical practitioners and the general community that if you stay out of
the workforce your health gets worse. There’s often a sense that there’s
nothing really wrong with a bit of time off work — we all take holidays
— but if the person is off work for a month or two the chances of them
going back to work goes down dramatically.” The study — Realising the
Health Benefits of Work — found that those who took a couple of months
off after illness or injury found it difficult to get back into the
workforce.
“A bunch of things coalesce,” Ms. Wyatt said. “You get out of the
routine of going to work and people get to expect that the system will
get them back into work.”
