Statement of fitness for work Health Dictionary

An ability to perform daily activities without becoming overtired. Fitness is dependent on strength, ?exibility and endurance, and the level of an individual’s ?tness will often depend on their type of employment and the extent to which they indulge in physical exercise, whether training in the local health club or at home or regularly participating in sports. Regular ?tness improves one’s health and well-being. Fitness exercises should be matched to a person’s age and abilities and there is a health danger if someone regularly exercises beyond their capabilities.... fitness

A worker who has less than full professional qualifications in a particular field and is supervised by a professional worker.... auxiliary worker

A trained health worker who works with other health and development workers as a team. The community health worker provides the first contact between the individual and the health system. The types of community health worker vary between countries and communities according to their needs and the resources available to meet them. In many societies, these workers come from and are chosen by the community in which they work. In some countries they work as volunteers; normally those who work part-time or full-time are rewarded, in cash or in kind, by the community and the formal health services.... community health worker

A person with defined responsibility towards a specific service user, usually with responsibility for service provision and the monitoring of care. Usually the first point of contact for an individual.... key worker

An intervention designed to enhance an individual’s physical, mental and social functioning through improved coping skills and use of social supports and community health care services. Those who practise social work are generally called social workers. There are many different types, specialties and grades of social worker. Those who specialize in care of older adults are often called geriatric or gerontological social workers.... social work

The sum of the institution’s short-term or current assets, including cash, marketable (short-term) securities, accounts receivable and inventories. Net working capital is defined as the excess of total current assets over total current liabilities.... working capital

A series of exercises designed to determine an individual’s level of fitness, primarily cardiovascular fitness and muscle performance. Fitness testing is often carried out before a person starts an exercise programme to evaluate its safety and suitability or to monitor progress thereafter.

A physical examination is usually performed, including measurement of body fat, height, and weight. Blood and urine tests may be done, including an analysis of blood cholesterol. The performance of the heart is measured by taking the pulse before, during, and after aerobic exercise. Another test involves measuring a person’s overall performance in a standard exercise. (See also aerobics; exercise.)... fitness testing

(in England and Wales under the Mental Capacity Act 2005) a legally recognized decision or statement by an adult with *capacity identifying any specific or general treatment the patient does not want in the event that he or she loses capacity. An advance directive or decision (formerly often called a living will) should be informed, made voluntarily, and must be valid and applicable to the medical situation that arises; at the extreme it can constitute an advance refusal of potentially life-saving treatment. It cannot, however, be used to demand future treatment and does not apply as long as the person retains capacity. An advance statement is a more general and less legally binding expression of the person’s values and views on the sort of treatment he or she may or may not wish to undergo. Directives and statements can raise ethical questions: for example, should life-saving treatment refused in advance nevertheless be given if it could restore the patient to a quality of life with which he or she was content before losing capacity.... advance directive, decision, or statement

see social services.... case work

a lung disease caused by coal dust. It affects mainly coal miners but also other exposed workers, such as lightermen, if the lungs’ capacity to accommodate and remove the particles is exceeded. See pneumoconiosis.... coal-worker’s pneumoconiosis

a social worker employed to assist hospital patients with social problems that may arise through illness. See also social services.... hospital social worker

a form of extrinsic allergic *alveolitis seen in people who work with barley.... malt-worker’s lung

see social services.... social worker

a benefit payable to working people with a low income. There are four categories of eligibility: a person responsible for a child; a disabled person; a person who is aged over 50, has recently started work, and was receiving certain benefits before starting work; and a person aged over 25 and working more than 30 hours per week. Working tax credit is in the process of being replaced by *universal credit.... working tax credit