HEALTHIER WORKING LIVES AND AGEING FOR WORKERS IN THE CARE SECTOR: DEVELOPING CAREERS, ENHANCING CONTINUITY, PROMOTING WELLBEING (HWL)

人们普遍认为，从事高质量、安全的工作有利于身心健康。如果是这样的话，能够健康、快乐地工作更长时间，将是朝着迎接英国健康老龄化挑战迈出的重要一步。英国的健康老龄化挑战是，到2035年，人们应该能多享受5年健康、独立的生活。随着年龄的增长，一些员工已经开始寻求从事更有社会意义或更有个人成就感的工作，而护理工作被认为提供了这样的机会。另一些人则会选择继续他们现有的照顾角色，如果工作可以更灵活和适应他们的工作/生活需要。然而，这项工作可能对身体和情感都有要求，而且回报仍然很低。护理行业对英国经济的价值约为159亿英镑，有超过5500家供应商。超过80%的工人是女性，21%是白人，大约30%的工人年龄在50岁以上，这个年龄段的许多人从事监督和管理工作。护理人员的构成也反映出不平等现象，2019冠状病毒病加剧了这种不平等现象，2020年期间，低收入、老年和白化族裔工作者患病和死亡的比例过高。此外，移民变化的影响（部分与英国退欧有关）对工人和供应商都特别关注。招聘和留用是主要的挑战。在Covid-19大流行的第一波期间，有时有12万个职位空缺，其中许多由机构工作人员填补（病毒传播的风险增加）。现在，在第二波浪潮中，供应商报告说，对该行业工作的恐惧正在阻止潜在的求职者，而工人们也谈到了他们自己的压力，这份工作也是一份有回报的工作。员工的年流动率为三分之一，这对员工、居民、家庭和社区的福祉构成了显著的挑战。人员配置的连续性，对其工作价值的认可，以及支持工人共同确定他们的发展需求，是这个项目的核心。该团队包括Scottish Care，它代表了400家私人组织，非营利和慈善机构的住宅供应，Legal & General，英国领先的退休村提供商之一，Codebase，英国最大的技术孵化器，为想法的部署提供指导，以及设计顾问Creative Venue（英国设计委员会前首席执行官John Mathers和他的同事Julian Grice）。世卫组织在将设计学科应用于公共服务和政策创新方面具有丰富的经验，世卫组织将与护理人员和研究小组密切合作，探索和共同设计可能的解决方案，以应对护理人员每天面临的健康和专业发展挑战。创意场所还将利用其广泛的设计知识和网络，为护理人员的想法提供最佳的商业成功机会。爱丁堡大学的研究人员在护理、健康、设计、商业和工作生活方面拥有数十年的经验，他们与合作伙伴密切合作，共同开发了这个项目。在36个月的四个阶段中，我们将重新审视现有的知识，与护理部门的员工合作，考虑他们的工作重点和角色发展，将整个团队的工作结合起来，开展共同设计研讨会，开发产出和产品的想法，以及对过程和成果应用的最终审查。在每个阶段，团队的角色都是倾听、探索，确保关键的对话能够以安全和探索的方式进行，并考虑到想法，并有可能向前推进。我们的知识网络，由Sophie Bowlby（学术，第三部门董事会成员）和Stephen Coleman （CodeBase）共同主持，有来自工人，护理提供者，设计，孵化器和技术团体的参与。

It is generally accepted that being in good quality, safe work is beneficial for one's physical and mental wellbeing. If this is the case, being able to work healthily and happily for longer would be significant step toward meeting the UK's Healthy Ageing Challenge that people should be benefitting from five more healthy and independent years of life by 2035. Some workers are already seeking to move into more socially meaningful or personally fulfilling work as they get older, and care work has been identified as offering such opportunities. Others would choose to continue in their existing caring role if the work could be more flexible and accommodating to their work/life needs. However, the work can be physically and emotionally demanding, and it remains poorly rewarded.The care sector is worth circa £15.9billion to the UK economy, with over 5,500 providers. Over 80% of workers are women, with 21% of BAME origin, and some 30% are aged 50 plus with many of this age group working in supervisory and managerial roles. The composition of the care workforce also reflects inequalities, reinforced by Covid-19 with the lower paid, older and BAME workers have disproportionately experienced illness and deaths across 2020. Further, the impact of changes in immigration, linked in part to Brexit, are of particular concern to both workers and providers.Recruitment and retention are major challenges. During wave one of the Covid-19 pandemic, at times there were 120,000 vacancies many filled by agency workers (with increased risked of virus transmission). Now in wave two, providers report that fear of working in the sector is deterring prospective applicants and workers speak of their own stresses in what is also a rewarding job. The annual turnover of staff is a third and this presents and notable challenge to the wellbeing of staff, residents, families, and communities. Continuity in staffing, recognition of the value of their work, and supporting workers to co-determine their development needs, are central to this project. The team combines Scottish Care, which represents 400 organisations in the private, not for profit and charities sector of residential provision, Legal & General, one of the UK's leading providers of retirement villages, Codebase the largest technology incubator in the UK, which offers mentorship for the deployment of ideas, and design consultants Creative Venue (John Mathers, ex-CEO of the British Design Council, and his colleague Julian Grice, who has extensive experience in applying design disciplines to public services and policy innovation), who will work closely with care staff and the research team to explore and co-design possible solutions to the health and professional development challenges that care workers face daily. Creative Venue will also use their extensive design knowledge and networks to give care workers' ideas the best possible chance of commercial success. Researchers with decades of experience in care, health, design, business and working life from the University of Edinburgh have worked closely with partners to co-develop this project. Across four stages over 36 months, we will revisit existing knowledge, engage with care sector staff to consider their priorities for working and role development, combine work across the team as a whole to run co-design workshops, develop ideas for outputs and products, along with a final review of the process and application of outcomes. At every stage, the role of the team is one of listening, exploring, ensuring critical conversations can take place in safe and exploratory ways, with ideas considered and potentially taken forward. Our Knowledge Network, co-chaired by Sophie Bowlby (Academic, Third Sector Board Member) and Stephen Coleman (CodeBase), has engagement from workers, care providers, design, incubator, and technology groups.