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Social Inequalities in Health Among Older Adults After Retirement

The Influence of Occupation and Related Factors

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Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health

Part of the book series: Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences ((HDBSOHS))

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Abstract

We are experiencing an aging society. Current evidence suggests that low occupational position, financial difficulty, and adverse psychosocial factors in working age are associated with a range of health problems after retirement (e.g., mortality, poor self-rated health, physical conditions, and reduced cognitive function). Generally, adverse conditions related to occupational position, financial situation, and workplace psychosocial factors (i.e., high job demands and low control) predict physical and mental health problems after retirement. Although there are some exceptions, the literature suggests that high work complexity and high psychological demands as well as high job control have a protective effect against declining cognitive function and development of dementia. Structural/contextual social determinants of health cannot be changed easily. It is therefore reasonable that countermeasures should target the workplace psychosocial environment that mediate structural/contextual social determinants of health. Providing employees with enriched work environments may have beneficial effects for retirees’ physical and mental conditions, thereby reducing social inequalities in health in later life. Further research is needed to disentangle various confounding/mediating factors and establish a clear theoretical framework. However, a challenge is how to implement necessary countermeasures.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by KAKEN Challenging Research (Exploratory): Exploration of methods of measurement and analyses of theory-based social class classification for health research in Japan (Project/Area Number 18 K19699) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan (Industrial Disease Clinical Research Grants 2018, Grant Number 180701-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan

    Akizumi Tsutsumi

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  1. Akizumi Tsutsumi
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Correspondence to Akizumi Tsutsumi .

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  1. Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Stockholms Län, Sweden

    Töres Theorell

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  1. Department of Public Health, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan

    Akizumi Tsutsumi

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Tsutsumi, A. (2020). Social Inequalities in Health Among Older Adults After Retirement. In: Theorell, T. (eds) Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health. Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05031-3_33-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05031-3_33-1

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