National Center for Productive Aging and Work
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Center for Productive Aging and Work (NCPAW) seeks to advance the safety, health, and well-being of workers throughout their working life. NCPAW works with partners in industry, labor, trade associations, professional organizations, academia, and other government agencies to protect workers as they age.
- Conduct research in the areas of:
- Health effects and mechanisms of aging.
- Evidenced-based practices and interventions.
- Use and improvement of surveillance methods.
- Use age-related research findings in collaboration with other NIOSH programs to develop a broad range of communication products for workers, organizations, and sectors.
- Build and foster partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including industry, labor, trade associations, professional organizations, academia, and other government agencies.
- Engage in communication and outreach efforts with partners to enhance the im-pact of NCPAW research and products.
- Published journal article “Depression and Diabetes in Workers Across the Life Span: Addressing the Health of America’s Workforce—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2014-2018.” Data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used to examine the prevalence of depression among adult workers with diabetes in the United States by age-group.
- Presented webinar “What’s Age Got to do with it? Realities and Solutions for Workplace Ageism.” The webinar had 416 attendees and currently has more than 3,000 views on YouTube.
- Co-authored “Aging and the Future of Decent Work.” The article discusses how aspects of aging and organizational factors affect work ability across the lifespan and throughout one’s work career.
- Develop a stakeholder consortium of organizations, associations, and agencies who have an interest in productive aging. The goal is to have a semi-annual meeting of interested parties.
- Conduct fifth webinar installment of the Productive Aging and Work/Total Worker Health® webinar series.
- Develop educational products about preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders in construction workers.
- Publish aging workforce needs assessment summarizing the results of focus groups and interviews about the occupational safety and health needs of the aging workforce.
- Develop educational documents that focus on topics affecting the aging workforce (e.g., working with arthritis, job design for older workers).

Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
NCPAW seeks to advance lifelong well-being for workers of all ages and supports productive aging across the working life. NCPAW is hosted by the NIOSH Office for Total Worker Health®. This snapshot shows recent accomplishments and upcoming activities.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2014-2018

Source: NIOSH Quality of Worklife Questionnaire
To learn more, visit
www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/productiveaging/
November 2022