Exciting new publication guides older workers
Media Release
18 May
By 2020 one in four people in the workplace will be 55 or older, and a new publication by the Mental Health Foundation is now available to help guide older people in their employment choices.
Older people are choosing to stay in the workplace for reasons ranging from financial considerations to mental wellbeing. The free booklet Looking to the Future: Information and choices for older people ensures that older people make an informed choice about continuing employment.
"Older people have decades of experience and valuable skills to offer employers," Marie Hull-Brown, Project Manager for Older People, says.
"Many people find that continuing to work not only gives them extra income, but also increases social contact and enhances their self-esteem and sense of personal meaning. Careers are much more flexible than they used to be. Looking to the Future helps older people to consider their many opportunities, whether they choose to stay involved in their field of expertise or take a new career path based on a long-term interest or hobby."
The booklet includes sections on whether continuing to work is the right choice, potential issues in the workplace and how to work through them, as well as inspiring stories from older people who are enhancing their own lives and other people's through their work.
Looking to the Future is available from the Foundation's Resource & Information Service (RIS), situated at 81 New North Road, Eden Terrace, Auckland.
The booklet, along with many other resources on wellbeing for older people and the wider population, can also be ordered through the Foundation's online shop.
The RIS is open from 9am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday and can be reached on 09 300 7030 or emailed at info "at" mentalhealth.org.nz. Its resources can be browsed online.
Additional Information
Those profiled in Looking to the Future are Bonnie Maxwell-Ritchie, a 75-year-old caregiver; Joan Rivlin, an 81-year-old volunteer extraordinaire; 74-year-old Owen Percy who works front-of-house at The Edge Entertainment; and Marie Hull-Brown, the Mental Health Foundation's Project Manager for Older People, who is 82.
For Media Enquiries, including interviews with Marie Hull-Brown, contact:
Carrie Briffett
Communications Officer
Mental Health Foundation
09 966 5725
021 918 220
carrie "at" mentalhealth.org.nz
