Abstract
The aging workforce is a growing reality, given demographic changes and socioeconomic trends. Therefore, it is crucial to understand, accept, and respect the issues of an aging workforce regarding health and safety in the workplace, especially when aiming to keep the individual longer in the labor market. It is also essential to consider the potential sensory disabilities of each individual so that they can overcome them and fully perform their functions in the workplace. From this perspective, the sensory capabilities of individuals must be assured through different means to guarantee that the organic and functional changes arising from aging are successfully overcome. In this follow-up, a bibliometric analysis between 2001 and 2022 was conducted to explore the most relevant authors, journals, countries, institutions, and publications in sensory aging and the workforce.
TopBackground
The normal aging process, common to all individuals and characterized by the decrease in physiological reserves and the increase in pathologies, assumes variable expressions that determine, with greater or lesser intensity, an individual physical, mental and functional decline (Kirkwood, 2005; Ermida, 2014). Despite having a genetic basis, this process is influenced by the environment in which the individual is inserted and affects the individual's social performance and quality of life (Kirkwood, 2005). The individual's adaptive capacity to deal with the aggressions to which he/she is subjected throughout life changes as a result of a complex interaction between the aging processes at the level of cells, organs, and systems with environmental, physical, psychological, and social factors (Oliveira & Pinto, 2014). This assumes that aging should be an individual life project and an inclusive, integrated and articulated collective responsibility (Gomes, 2011). The individual and collective contribution to healthy aging, as opposed to senescence, will allow for better adequacy of economic and financial resources in this age group (Oliveira & Pinto, 2014). It is considered that the biological decline causes consequences of economic character, family integration, and the social network in which the individual is inserted, which in themselves may constitute a more serious problem than those related to health or other physical problems that may exist (Ermida, 2014).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Touch: Sensory sense allows the individual to feel the world around him, perceiving and distinguishing temperatures, textures, and sensations (pain).
Vision: Sensory sense that allows, through the eyes, visualizing the external world.
Aging: A continuous, gradual, irreversible process of molecular, cellular, and functional changes that begins in adulthood.
Sensory Impairment: Gradual changes in structures and functioning of organs that constitute the sensory system, compromising the performance of daily life activities and social participation.
Smell: Sensory sense is related to the ability to sense and distinguish odors through the olfactory system.
Taste: Sensory sense consisting of chemical sensations perceived by the taste buds. It allows the recognition of tastes.
Sensory System: It is a set of organs endowed with specialized cells with the capacity to capture internal and external stimuli. It comprises sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
Workforce: Physical, mental, and psychological capacity to perform organizational activities according to a specific function.
Hearing: Sensory sense is related to hearing and processing sounds of different spectrums.