The Cochrane Library in England produces reviews of medical studies which produce information about systematic interventions which help people be healthier.

What  really works?

This study is the result of a review of 10 studies with more than 16,000 participants, says the full story from Medpage Today.

This is the beginning of what should be an emerging field of study. There is  little in the literature about working conditions and their relationship to health which fits into the framework of this Cochrane review.

Some of these interventions don’t cost money. They cost time, up-front, in figuring out to set up ways in which to get the work done on time and allow workers flexibility, too. The trends favor this approach, with the Internet introducing the 24/7 work day.

Each one of the studies looked at a different aspect of  “control over work.” Each one needs more study. Together, researchers need to see what combination of “controls” is optimally effective for health.

Examples included in this study are flexible schedules—work schedules and retirement ones, too.

Employers, who have a vested interest in keeping their health care costs down, will need to see how they can use this information to manage their work forces.

Exciting, but early days yet.

It is likely some sectors adapt to flexible scheduling much more readily than others. In the world of computers, no one cares all that much as long as you deliver what you are supposed to, preferably better than anyone from another country.

The challenge will be in finding ways to adapt traditional workplaces to healthier scheduling systems.

Many an office war has started over the parent versus non-parent scheduling needs.

If these kinds of changes really are beneficial to people’s health,  some advice as to how to manage this peacefully would be helpful, but that is beyond the Cochrane’s mission.

That part is up to us.

Medpage Today

“Workers who had more control over their schedules and workdays saw improvements in both physical and mental health, according to a Cochrane Review.

“Flexible working initiatives which equip the worker with more choice or control, such as self-scheduling of work hours or gradual or phased retirement are likely to have positive effects on health and well-being,” Clare Bambra, PhD, of Durham University in the U.K., told MedPage Today.

“Conversely, Bambra and colleagues found that mandatory overtime and fixed-term contracts had absolutely no positive effects on health outcomes.

“Control at work is good for health,” Bambra said.

“Flexible work situations are becoming more popular, but few have studied their effects on health and well-being — despite the fact that quality and type of work as well as the physical and psychosocial work environment can affect these outcomes, Bambra said.”

Source: Medpage Today, February 18, 2010

Citation: Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, Cochrane Rev 2010; DOI: 10.1001/14651858.CD008009.