Organised by Public Health Scotland, a meeting bringing together professionals from Scotland’s national and local employability and health services, has heard that people who have the opportunity to work and earn money enjoy better health outcomes, reducing the risk they will be left behind.

Pamela Smith, Head of Economy, Poverty and Environment at Public Health Scotland (PHS) told the meeting employability matters for good health:

“There is strong evidence showing that good, fair work is good for physical and mental health and wellbeing. Worklessness is equally associated with poorer physical and mental health and pure wellbeing, and it's also linked to increased risk of mortality and morbidity.”

She added that ‘employability’ is defined as helping people access, enter, sustain and progress in employment.

Ms Smith had over 30 years’ experience in local government working across employment services with an economic perspective, before moving to PHS. She added that a lack of income is a key driver of health inequalities, agreeing with a Health Foundation study showing people living in Scotland’s most deprived areas having a lower life expectancy – and spending fewer years living in good health.

Last November Poverty Alliance’s Parliamentary and Policy Officer, Ashley McLean, told healthandcare.scot that money matters for supporting the health of people in poverty, both in physical and mental wellbeing.

In the PHS session, Ms Smith explained that work for most people is how they gain an income and “can lift themselves out of poverty” to begin tackling the inequalities and disadvantages they experience.

How do we define “good” work?

Ms Smith explained that “good work” includes having a safe and secure job, with good hours, conditions, pay and supportive management with opportunities for learning and development, adding:

“There is clear evidence that good work improves health and wellbeing across people’s lives and protects against social and economic exclusion.

“The quality of employment directly and indirectly impacts on individuals, on their families, on their children's life chances and on communities.

“Therefore, work and health-related worklessness are important to public health and are a public health issue both local and a national level.”

Research from the Health Foundation highlighted the economic and health benefits of supporting people into work, stating that policies to improve health could increase employment rates, while ‘policies to boost access to – and the availability of – good-quality work could also contribute to better health outcomes.’

In December, Humza Yousaf – then speaking as Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care – addressed a seminar hosted by SCDI and ABPI on health and wealth, acknowledging that “a vibrant economy and public health go hand-in-hand.”

Mr Yousaf said: “A healthy society is essential to a healthy economy,” reassuring attendees that he personally and the government understood the value and importance of employability services for health and wellbeing.

Transforming Scotland’s employability system

Speaking at the PHS employability and health seminar, Amy Stuart, Head of Employability Policy at the Scottish government said:

“Since employability services were first devolved to Scotland in 2017, they’ve been a key lever in driving forward ambitions for a fairer Scotland. The agenda that I’m most passionate about is tackling inequalities and I believe that by working together effectively, employability and health services can play a huge role in this.”

Ms Stuart added the area that could have the most significant impact is creating more joined-up employability and health services and simplifying access to support for people. She said that efforts both at a national and local level must focus developing and linking these services to see the best outcomes for people in Scotland.

Services in Scotland particularly target supporting people facing barriers accessing and staying within work, Ms Stuart said, including disabled people and those at risk of long-term unemployment:

“Our focus right now in Scotland, we’re already taking forward quite an ambitious programme of transformation at employability system level through No One Left Behind – borne from the reality that even whilst unemployment is at low levels, there’s still many who struggle to find and keep a job.

“And that’s the people that are further from the labour market, for example people with health conditions, disabilities, parents living in poverty, and ethnic minorities, are people at risk of being left behind.

“Crucially, a primary driver for this is that join-up between services and embedding employability within a broader range of support, and that includes housing, justice, advice services – and of course health.”

She said that ‘No One Left Behind’ is a broad approach being taken by the Scottish government and, through this and building local partnerships, integrated services can help people to live well.

Richard Lochhead MSP spoke at the international neurodiversity conference held in Edinburgh last month while he was the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work. Mr Lochhead said the government is prioritising neuro-inclusion, and has work underway to improve access to good work for neurodivergent people – including No One Left Behind.

MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy has meanwhile got the green light to introduce the Disabled Children and Young People (Transition to Adulthood) Bill to the Scottish parliament. One of its aims is to improve employment services to address barriers to employment for people with disabilities.

No One Left Behind looks to boost support within local authorities to provide evidence-based support for what each given area requires to best meet the needs of its community. Ms Stuart called for more partnership working and ensuring that services are co-designed with the people they will impact.

Public Health Scotland’s Pamela Smith shared this priority on community level support, saying:

“The effort and the focus must be on that local, place-based approach. I think that better alignment and integration agenda is critical, as we said employability is not about moving people towards and into work, it’s about enabling them to sustain work.

“And those wrap-around services are equally important to prevent people falling out of work and becoming economically inactive, and we know there’s been an increase in individuals falling out of work and becoming economically inactive due to long-term health conditions.”

She added that developing partnerships at both a national and local level are vital and there is no doubt that “good work is essential for good health and also for a good economy – and vice versa”.

Read more: Mr Yousaf: “Scotland is a great place to work”; Social deprivation linked to frailty; Can Scotland make health fairer?; Analysis: Why people are left behind

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