The number of aging workers (ie, aged 55 years or over [1]) is growing worldwide and forming an indispensable population contributing to economic life, especially in the context of a critical labor shortage. In Canada, this workforce represents more than one-third of the working-age population, almost 40% of whom are active in the labor market [2]. These are the highest proportions that the statistical account of work in Canada has noted. In the United States, the only group of workers on the rise since the mid-1990s are workers over the age of 55 years [3]. Moreover, they represent the group of workers that will grow the most by 2030 [4]. The European Union is also experiencing a similar situation, with a 17% increase in workers aged 55 to 64 years since 2009 [5].

This increase raises awareness of the importance of this group of workers who have specific characteristics differentiating them from other active generations at work. Indeed, this older generation of workers has distinctive values regarding work. For instance, older workers seem less likely than other generations to value the extrinsic advantages of work less than such intrinsic advantages as social contacts, challenges, and opportunities for responsibility [6]. In addition, some authors report that the baby boomer generation (ie, people born between 1946 and 1964 [7]) tends to show the greatest employer loyalty and a lower propensity than younger workers to leave their jobs [8]. These workers are also subject to particular representations by their younger colleagues. The results of a study on stereotypes of older workers show that others generally perceive them as more faithful but less likely to be fast adapters to technology [9].

Although work leads to many benefits for aging workers, such as developing a sense of belonging or ensuring financial security, it also carries risks [10]. Aging workers face higher probabilities of experiencing one or more periods of disability, either due to an occupational injury or a personal medical reason [10]. Moreover, the severity of the injury and the duration of disabling conditions escalate with age [11,12]. Indeed, workers aged 55 years and over are twice as likely as their younger colleagues to have a work-related accident and 6 times more likely than those colleagues to develop a musculoskeletal disorder [11]. Some authors report that gaps between workers’ abilities and job demands [13] as well as the decline of certain senses (eg, vision and audition [14]) partly explain these differences. Moreover, a major difference of nearly 100 days exists between the average duration of the disability period following an occupational injury for workers at least 55 years of age and that of younger workers aged 15 to 24 years [15]. Factors related to injury severity, presence of comorbidities, and tissue repair speed may mean longer periods of disability for aging workers [12,16], contributing to a marked increase in their use of rehabilitation services [17].

The increasing rehabilitation needs of aging workers create changes in the profile of the rehabilitation-service clientele [18]. Rehabilitation professionals now work with this emerging population and its distinctive characteristics. Professionals are generally aware of the growing presence of aging workers among the clients receiving their services. Nonetheless, they often do not know how to respond to this singular population in a changing world of work, and most clinical settings have not yet added specific services to meet those needs [18]. In addition, managers need resources to support aging workers in their return to work after an absence. Indeed, a recent scoping review revealed a gap between the needs of aging workers returning to work and the responses from managers [19]. Therefore, developing resources to help rehabilitation professionals support and guide managers and aging workers is essential, considering their singular characteristics.

The situation is even more complex because the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the way many people do their work, forcing a shift to digital work and telework [20,21]. As we emerge from this period of crisis, telework is clearly a work arrangement that will remain [22], with its advantages and challenges. Indeed, the research on telework during the pandemic has exploded, revealing some health benefits for individuals (eg, schedule flexibility [23]) but also challenges (eg, disconnection difficulties [24]) that may specifically impact aging workers’ mental health [25]. Other authors report the added value of telework in promoting inclusion and health for all worker populations [26,27], especially such marginalized populations as aging workers. While telework had been an exceptional accommodation for some workers (eg, workers with physical disabilities) from the 1990s until the late 2010s [28,29], workplace stakeholders more widely accept and recognize it now, resulting in less marginalization of workers who benefit from it.

Studies have highlighted the potential of telework as an accommodation for people living with specific health conditions as they feel more able to perform their work while managing their fatigue or pain levels [27,30-32]. Thus, using telework to accommodate individuals who may have challenges performing work in a conventional manner after a period of absence may be of interest. Indeed, this form of work provides “invisibility,” ensuring greater equality [26,27] as well as protection against prejudice and discrimination [31,33]. Some exploratory work suggests ways to use telework as a modality to facilitate accommodation, inclusion, and health for unique worker populations, such as people with physical disabilities [20,21] or neurodivergent workers [22]. Nonetheless, to our knowledge, there are not yet guidelines for ensuring a healthy application of telework for aging people. Recent research results have suggested that telework is particularly challenging for aging workers [34]. How can we ensure that this work arrangement promotes the accommodation, inclusion, and health of this workforce?

To optimize the contribution of all available people and reduce the labor shortage while promoting the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace, addressing this contemporary issue is important. Developing innovative tools to guide the healthy use of telework among aging people who have experienced an absence and improving knowledge about the use of telework as an accommodation modality for aging workers could help equip the rehabilitation professionals who support managers and workers in the trajectory of rehabilitation, return, and stay at work.

This study aims to develop a reflective telework application guide to support the accommodation, inclusion, and health of aging workers after an absence. Specifically, this study (1) explores the telework experience of aging workers, managers, and rehabilitation professionals; (2) designs the reflective application guide on the basis of a validated logic model; and (3) tests and evaluates the guide.

Data collection began in spring 2023 and initial results are expected in fall 2023. This study aims to produce a concrete tool, namely, a reflective telework application guide for short-term use by rehabilitation professionals, managers, and aging workers, to improve the implementation of telework as an accommodation modality to support the inclusion and health of aging people in their return to work after an absence. The guide will also serve to influence policy makers regarding telework. Since rehabilitation professionals and managers are often poorly equipped to respond to such a unique population, the results should propose guidelines for using telework to return to work.

To share the results of the project and increase its sustainability potential, the steering committee will organize several dissemination activities, either during the project or at its end. The researchers will frequently post the study’s progress on social media and in a newsletter. We will record a podcast with a researcher, a worker, a manager, and a rehabilitation professional to publicize the guide and its potential utilization. We will invite various stakeholders in the world of work (ie, unions, insurers, and employer and worker associations) to listen to this podcast. Also, we will submit the results for publication in scientific journals and presentation at international scientific conferences. To ensure rigor in the dissemination of results, we will follow the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) [47]. Finally, we will promote the use of the guide to government authorities.