Workability and mental wellbeing among therapeutic prison officers

Previous research has examined how age and health can shape workability (WA). This study seeks to explore how a lack of WA (inability) may affect the health of the employee. To explore the effects of work inability on mental wellbeing among therapeutic prison officers. An anonymous cross-sectional s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Occupational medicine (Oxford) 2015-10, Vol.65 (7), p.549-551
Main Authors: Walker, E J, Jackson, C A, Egan, H H, Tonkin, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Anxiety - etiology
Counselors
Cross-Sectional Studies
Employment
England
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Occupational Exposure
Occupational Health
Occupations
Prisons
Sleep Wake Disorders - etiology
Stress, Psychological - complications
Surveys and Questionnaires
Work
Work Capacity Evaluation
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous research has examined how age and health can shape workability (WA). This study seeks to explore how a lack of WA (inability) may affect the health of the employee. To explore the effects of work inability on mental wellbeing among therapeutic prison officers. An anonymous cross-sectional study of prison officers conducted in a category B English prison using the Work Ability Index (WAI) and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ). Fifty-seven officers (59%) participated and of those 95% achieved GHQ caseness. Officers with poorer WA reported significantly higher GHQ scores. Work inability for mental demands had significant associations with anxiety (β = -0.58, 95% CI -4.21 to -1.88, particularly sleep loss; Pearson's r = -0.66). Our findings present clear associations between poor WA and its impact upon mental wellbeing. The results of this study may help to focus on areas for intervention such as improving WA and promoting mental wellbeing.
ISSN:0962-7480
1471-8405
DOI:10.1093/occmed/kqv084