New UofG-wide group launched by IHW to support older colleagues and students
Published: 19 May 2022
A new network has been set up by the IHW Wellbeing of Older Workers (WOW) group to provide peer support to older colleagues and students across UofG
A new network has been set up by the IHW Wellbeing of Older Workers (WOW) group to provide peer support to older colleagues and students across UofG.
Run by colleagues in the Institute of Health and Wellbeing and hosted on MS Teams, the Wellbeing of Older Workers group aims to provide a safe place for sharing concerns, challenges, achievements, aspirations, and any thoughts or stories. As well as this mutual peer support, regular posts will be made sharing information and upcoming events of interest.
The definition of an "older worker or student", in this context, is anyone over the age of 50, or anyone who considers themselves to be an older worker or student.
One of the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010 is age. The proportion of older workers (aged 50+) has been increasing in recent years, currently around a third of the UK workforce are older workers with this proportion set to increase further as the pension age increases. The challenges and benefits of being an older worker are becoming more widely understood and acknowledged, and the voice of the older worker is becoming stronger as stigma and barriers are broken.
There is a separate Athena Swan group for older workers in the IHW (Wellbeing for Older Workers WOW). You can read more about the work of this group on the IHW Athena Swan webpages, including the online toolkit for older colleagues which launched in 2021.
A small group of volunteers will oversee this Team but we hope it will be essentially peer-led and develop organically as members decide what they need and want from it.
Nicola McMeekin and Elaine Hindle
Chairs, IHW Wellbeing of Older Workers group
First published: 19 May 2022
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