Health-Promoting Pathways to Sustainable Employability for Employees with Limited Capability for Work.

Work is an important determinant of health and a fundamental human right. People with Limited Capability for Work (LCW) due to disability face barriers to employment, despite their ability and willingness to work.
This thesis explores how health-promoting work environments can support inclusion. Guided by the Salutogenic Model of Health and the Sustainable Employability (SE) framework, this research first examines how work experiences relate to health and SE of employees with LCW across work settings. It then focuses on nature-based work to examine health-promoting mechanisms. An inclusive multi-method approach was used, combining questionnaires, interviews, and participatory observations.
Findings show that meaningful work and inclusion contribute to health and SE. Nature-based work provides valuable resources for meaningful work, but social and organisational conditions are essential to translate these into health-promoting mechanisms, including supportive relationships, learning and meaning-making. Supervisors play a key role in these processes. ‘Caring practices’ in supervision and organisational practices help make work meaningful, ultimately contributing to meaningful inclusion.