Workplace Wellness Programs for Aging Academics

Please join us for our next SSIG colloquium, "Workplace Wellness Programs for Aging Academics," on Wednesday, November 28, from 12 - 1 p.m. Our speaker will be UI professor Brian Kaskie of the department of health management and policy in the UI College of Public Health. Please note that this semester, we will meet in the Commons (302), Schaeffer Hall (SH) for all our colloquia. 

Purpose: Few colleges or universities have addressed the challenges and oppoturnities presented by an aging workforce. This research examined workplace wellness programs targeting aging faculty and staff at academic institutions across the United States. 

Data/Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 187 human resource specialists from a representative sample of academic institutions provided data on workplace wellness programs most relevant to aging employees (e.g. retirement counseling). These institutional wellness programs were regressed onto a mixed effects model featuring contextual, institutional and individual level constructs (e.g. location of institution, size of student body, background of HR specialist).

Results: Wellness programming varied significantly across academic institutions and was related to two variables: the over-all size of the institution and whether the HR specialist had completed any training-in-aging.

Conclusion: Formal efforts to increase wellness programming for an aging academic workforce appear relatively straightforward as they rely significantly on the appointment of staff specialist. Such staffing is likely to generate individual and institutional benefits.