Flexible working can help to reduce the chances of heart disease, researchers find

Dolly Parton once sang the famous song, “It was enough to drive you crazy if you let it.”

But now researchers have found that avoiding the 9 to 5 slog can reduce your risk of heart disease.

One study found that those who worked for caring bosses who allowed flexible work hours were less likely to have heart problems.

In fact, workers whose work didn’t conflict with their home lives had equivalent heart health to those ten years younger, researchers suggest.

According to Harvard and Penn State universities, people over 45 and staff members at higher risk for cardiovascular disease reaped the most benefits.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, involved 1,528 workers in high- and mid-paying IT positions and low-paid health care providers.

Their systolic blood pressure, BMI, glycosylated hemoglobin, smoking status and cholesterol were recorded at the start of the study and 12 months later.

Their health information was used to calculate their cardio-metabolic risk score (CRS), with a higher number indicating a higher risk of the disease.

The experts found that workplace interventions had no ‘significant’ overall impact on participants’ CRS.

However, they noted that it reduced CRS in those who had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease at baseline.

Their health information was used to calculate their cardio-metabolic risk score (CRS), with a higher number indicating a higher risk of the disease

Participants who had a reduction decreased their CRS by the equivalent of an age decrease from 5.5 to 10.3 years.

Employees over 45 with a higher CRS were more likely to benefit.

Professor Orfeu Buxton, director of the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Penn State, said: ‘The intervention was designed to change workplace culture over time with the intention of reducing conflict between work and personal life of employees and ultimately improve their lives. health.

‘Now we know that such changes can improve worker health and should be implemented more widely.’ Supervisors are trained to show support for employees’ personal lives in addition to their work performance.

Employees attended training sessions together with their seniors on increasing staff control over their schedules and tasks.

Employees attended training sessions together with their seniors on increasing staff control over their schedules and tasks

An IT company with high-tech staff participated, in addition to a healthcare company with low-paid healthcare providers.

Professor Lisa Berkman, from the Harvard Chan School and director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, said: ‘The research illustrates how working conditions are important social determinants of health.

‘When stressful workplace conditions and work-family conflict were mitigated, we saw a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease among vulnerable workers, without any negative impact on their productivity.

“These findings may be particularly impactful for low- and middle-wage workers, who traditionally have less control over their schedules and work demands and are subject to greater health inequalities.”