RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Effectiveness of a problem

DOI 10.1186/s12889-015-1410-5Netherlands Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleThe age of retirement is being pushed back as state benefit systems fail to keep pace with low birth rates and rising life expectancy [1,2]. This major shift in demo-graphics will force more of the workforce to remain ac-tive in the employment market into later life and exerts pressure on society with respect to health, wealth and higher sickness absenteeism rates and more disability [5], reduced work ability [6] and decreased productivity [7,8]. Moreover, ageing of the workforce is associated with an increase in the number of workers with chronic health conditions [9-11]. There is evidence that the pres-ence of chronic health problems impacts on work ability [12], work disability [13] and productivity [14] when ad-justed for age. The ageing workforce combined with in-creased health problems in ageing workers implies the importance of evidence-based interventions to enhanc