The second edition of the monograph describes general and specific problems of age-
related working capacity of a person, namely, its physiological, social and hygienic
aspects. Their place in modern labor medicine and social gerontology is specified.
Scientifically substantiated are the concepts of "norm" and "health", "residual working
capacity" in relation to age and working capacity. Methodical approaches to assessing the
working capacity of the elderly are described, and age-related aspects of herohygiene and
preventive toxicology are highlighted. The book contains practical recommendations
aimed at increasing the working capacity of older persons and preventing fatigue. The
impact of person's lifestyle on the duration of life is showed.
Pointed out is the importance of continued labor activity by the elderly as a health factor,
as well as the necessity of exercise training and socialization of pensioners. The main
factors are an adaptive work regimen and the introduction of gerontechnology
achievements to compensate for the reduced capabilities of the elderly. Separate section
deals with some military occupations. Improvements in technology and more advanced
equipment allow older servicemen to work, which is quite important in view of demographic
crisis; the average age of industry specialists in Ukraine is 45 years.
The reserve of labor productivity of the elderly is their high qualification and experience,
which allow to increase labor productivity through work efficiency, rather than increased
labor intensity and tension.
Thus, in contrast to young workers, who have a significant functional reserve and wide
range of adaptation, the elderly are peculiar for age compensation and increase in working
capacity owing to the involvement of a greater number of functions that ensure final
adaptive result. Training of professionally essential functions allows an individual to
compensate for the age-related decline in productivity at work.
The authors have developed a system of professional labor rehabilitation and the
application of gerontechnological principles in production, which will allow overcoming the
conflict between the elderly and production owing to optimization of working conditions,
which, in its turn, will allow a person to correspond to his profession longer and maintain
health status and quality of life. All these have both socio-economic and humanitarian
perspectives for society and man.