Newsletter of the section Social Security Work and Health (SSWH) October 2025

Looking back and looking forward

Dear SSWH members,

We hope this newsletter finds you all well and we look forward to meeting many of you at the upcoming 18th EPH conference from November 11th to 14th 2025 in Helsinki, Finland.

Past event: The sixth In-between webinar on September 29^th, 2025

We are looking back on a successful online “In-between meeting” on September 29^th, 2025, organized by Amaia Ayala García and Garazi Ruiz de Azua Unzurrunzaga, with three excellent presentations by Agneta Blomberg, Anna Frantz and Filippa Lundh.

Agneta Blomberg, PhD student, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Gothenburg University, Sweden: Factors associated with sustainable work participation: findings from a cross-sectional survey and longitudinal register study among Swedish employees

Anna Frantz, PhD Student, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden: Working with mental health problems: employee and manager perspectives

Filippa Lundh, PhD Student, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden: The occupational safety risks and health effects of digital platform work

A huge “Thanks a lot” again to all presenters, organizers and participants!  The next “In-between meeting” will be organized in the spring of 2026. If you are interested to share your research with a broad audience and / or to participate, please let us know and send a message via our LinkedIn account (https://www.linkedin.com/company/eupha-social-security-work-and-health/)

Currently ongoing: Website updates

During the summer break, the EUPHA launched a new website. We are currently updating the information about our SSWH section, in terms of text and pictures. Check out the new websites: https://eupha.org/sections/social-security-work-and-health/ 

To look forward to: EPH Pre-conference

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the EPH conference from November 11th to 14th 2025 in Helsinki. Please find below an overview of activities in the L track “Social security, work and health / Disease Management”. You also have a chance to meet us in person at the SSWH Join the Network (JTN) meeting on Thursday (see below). Happy to see you there and hear your ideas for future priorities and collaborations. Much more on social security, work and health will be presented, also in other tracks.

Tuesday November 11^th, 2025: Preconference

It is still possible to sign up!

09:00 – 17:00 SSWH Preconference “Planetary health – impacts on our health, well-being, and work” @ Veranda 4. See the programme below.

Climate change is impacting working life in various ways, with both immediate and long-term consequences for workers. This pre-conference focuses on the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on work and health, and how climate change affects wider societal measures, such as work ability and sickness absence.

This pre-conference will offer state-of-the-art presentations of the most recent knowledge on climate change, working life and health and gives participants the opportunity to participate in the discussions and reflect on climate change mitigation and adaptation in the working life and health context. The pre-conference will include several presentations ranging from large register-based studies on mental health and sickness absence to survey findings on climate anxiety and work ability, with round-table discussions between participants on current issues.

Programme

09:00 – 09:05 Welcome and introduction to the day – Marianna Virtanen, University of Eastern Finland

09:05 – 09:45 What do we know about the link between climate change, work and health – general introduction to the state-of-the-art – Marianna Virtanen, University of Eastern Finland

09:45 – 10:30 Effects of environmental emotions on work ability, well-being, and eco-behaviour – Katriina Hyvönen, Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, Finland

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break and networking

11:00 – 11:30 Climate change, emotions, and mental health: the role of coping strategies – Veera Nieminen, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

11:30 – 12:00 Skin cancer prevention among outdoor workers – Femke Abma, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the Netherlands

12:00 – 12:30 Weather warning services to prevent health risks – Reija Ruuhela, Finnish Meteorological Institute

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break

13:30 – 14:15 Roundtable discussion, topic 1: Climate change, work and health in different parts of the world

14:15 – 15:00 Roundtable discussion, topic 2: Climate emotions and the workplace

15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break and networking

15:30 – 16:30 Roundtable discussion, topic 3: Climate change mitigation and prevention of workplace health risks, sickness absence and work disability

16:30 – 17:00 Wrap-up of the day 

All participants are invited to a dinner at participants’ own cost.

EPH Conference programme

Wednesday November 12^th, 2025 at Veranda 4:

09:00 – 10:00 Pitch presentations: Work, health behaviours and prevention

10:30 – 11:30 Workshop – Scientific session: The role of health in extending working lives: Empirical findings from the Nordic region

15:15 – 16:15 Oral presentations: Work, mental health and social factors

Thursday November 13^th, 2025 at Veranda 4, except the JtN meeting:

09:00 – 10:00 Oral presentations: Work ability: interventions and risk factors   

11:45 – 12:45 Pitch presentations: Work, health and policy

14:00 – 14:45 Join the Network SSWH (JtN) @ Room 16, 1st floor congress wing

15:15 – 16.15 Oral presentations: Navigating challenges in diverse worker populations 

16:45 – 17:45 Joint Workshop SSWH, Public Mental Health & Public Health Economics- Scientific session: Work and mental health among young adults: views and evidence from five European countries

Friday November 14^th, 2025 at Veranda 4:

09:00 – 10:00 Oral presentations: Workplace and social determinants of mental health

11:45 – 12:45 Oral presentations: Work conditions, health and productivity

Finally, join the annual Join the Network meeting ONLINE:  

Invitation to participate online in the annual Joint the Network meeting on Thursday November 13^th 2025 from 14.00 to 14.45. Please note that the time is shown in Helsinki local time (EET / UTC+2). This online  meeting is an experiment to facilitate participation of SSWH members who are not at the EPH conference in Helsinki (see live location above). You are very much welcome to join via the zoom link: https://ki-se.zoom.us/j/64899366510

Once again, we look forward to seeing many of you in Helsinki this November! 

Warm regards, 
The EUPHA SSWH Committee