Economic inactivity in Scotland: supporting those with longer-term health conditions and disabilities to remain economically active

Research design and evidence base

This rapid evidence review was undertaken between November 2023 and January 2024, and was based on a process of searching for and assessing material via two routes: a literature search undertaken in conjunction with the Scottish Government library using an agreed searching strategy (with some additional hand searching of sources referenced by the literature found via this route), and a search of the grey literature via Google and Google Scholar searches.

The search conducted in conjunction with the Scottish Government library used a search strategy based on a sifting of the wide range of search terms in this area (see Annex A for the full list of initial search terms and the final agreed strategy). The literature search covered the last five years, to capture discussion of economic inactivity both pre- and post-pandemic to ensure the broadest coverage of the underlying issues that existed before the pandemic, but that may have been exacerbated or created since – as well as potential positive change to work flexibility since the pandemic. However, the occasional source pre-2019 has been included where it offered substantial insight: for example, the ‘Thriving at Work’ Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health at work from 2017. To ensure results as applicable as possible to the Scottish context the search was limited to Scottish, UK, and wider European results: occasionally these have referenced evidence from further afield, but reporting this is kept to a minimum. The databases searched were: Idox; KandE; Knowledge Network; ProQuest; and Google Scholar. Hand searching was also conducted where relevant sources were referenced within this literature.

Furthermore, the grey literature was searched using Google Scholar via separate search. Search terms here included combinations of the terms found at Annex A.

The resulting literature was a mixture of scholarly articles, government reports and evaluations, and reports from advocacy groups, charities, employers, and third sector organisations. A range of methods have been used to conduct the research and reporting, including quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. The quality of the evidence base is relatively high overall and well established in terms of understanding of the area and suggestions for improvements and solutions. Hence, though this review does not intend to be exhaustive, there are a number of recurring suggestions for policy and employer action that came through in the literature. There is clear and sustained interest in supporting those with chronic conditions and disabilities to remain in work.

Across the resulting evidence base, the demographic data was limited, with most studies focusing on those with longer-term ill health and/or disabilities as an aggregate grouping. Where specific mention has been made of, for example, younger or older workers, this will be mentioned.