A preventive approach to retirement: to help head off the psychological, social, and family issues that arise during retirement, an employer teamed with its EAP provider to develop a preventive plan of action.

A person who retires from work experiences a huge change in his/her life. Leaving one's job inevitably implies the modification of actions that often have been followed for many long years: awaking at a certain time, leaving home and traveling to a worksite, performing certain activities, interacting with co-workers and managers, leaving the worksite and returning home (perhaps at the same time each day; perhaps at varying times), and so on. These actions usually become habits after being performed for a long time.

The sudden interruption of these habits is not easy to accommodate. For some people, it may mean a great loss; for others, a huge satisfaction. But the truth is that it always results in the need to invest effort and energy in adapting to a new situation.

DEVELOPMENTAL CRISES

Several authors in the field of psychology consider retirement to be one of the many developmental crises people undergo in their lives. A crisis, according to Webster's dictionary, is "a stage at which a decisive change is imminent, for better or for worse." The typical developmental crises in a person's life include marriage, the birth of children--followed by their entry into school, reaching puberty, growing independence, and subsequent departure from home--gradual aging, and retirement from work.

These development crises are unavoidable and foreseeable. This means that at each developmental stage, a person will go through some sort of crisis. Each crisis will require not only the person but also his/her family to change and adjust to the new situation. If the family is flexible and has resources at its disposal, it will obtain some benefit from the crisis. But if the person or any member of his/her family tries to resist making changes, problems will appear.

Consider an employee who leaves work on a given day and becomes a retiree. What consequences may be in store for this person and any relatives living with him/her? Becoming a retiree usually affects four areas of a person's life, namely the psychological, social, family, and financial areas.

Psychological implications. Each person who retires will be affected differently, depending upon his/her particular situation. There are, however, certain common aspects that should be mentioned.

* Retiring from work implies saying goodbye to a life stage to which the person probably will not return. This is a loss that a retiree must accept and overcome.

* Modifying one's habits, especially after reaching the age of 65, usually exacts a high psychological cost.

* Retirement also marks the beginning of "old age," a life stage that is undervalued by society: This may result in anguish, sadness, rage, resentment, or other negative emotions.

* To be an actively working person is usually regarded as a virtue. To stop being such a person may have a negative impact on a retiree's emotional welfare.

Social implications. Retiring from work almost always causes a separation from friends and weakens relationships in the professional sphere. This loss may result in loneliness and anguish until the person manages to organize a new peer group.

Family implications. For persons who have worked maW years outside their homes, sharing time and space with family members rather than co-workers for the bulk of the day will require time and effort, both from the family and from the retiree. For instance, if a husband has always worked outside the home and suddenly finds himself at home the whole day with his wife, both will have to make efforts to develop a new form of cohabitation to which they are not accustomed.

Financial implications. Retirement often significantly reduces a person's income, which affects the retiree's quality of life and that of his/her family. This reduction in life quality will negatively affect the retiree and his/her family

Given these and other effects of retirement, this stage of life may properly be considered a developmental crisis for both the retiree and his/her family The better prepared they are to face this situation and adjust to their new stage of life, the better the results will be. Our experiences have shown that advance psychological preparation, with the guidance of professionals, helps to generate a proper attitude and action plan so that both the retiree and his/her family may begin this new stage positively

A SENSE OF BELONGING

A year ago, human resources professionals from S.C. Johnson & Son (SCJ) in Argentina met with representatives from EAP Latina Corporation (EAP de Argentina) to develop a "Retirement Psychological Prevention Program" for its employees. SCJ is well known in Argentina as an employer willing to make significant investments in its workers. Following are some considerations that will help employee assistance professionals understand why it is important to develop such programs in work organizations and how to do this.

SCJ'S corporate philosophy is essentially based on honoring the value and respecting the goodwill of people who are and have been part of the company In this vein, SCJ proposed that the bond between employer and employee be maintained beyond the labor stage, thus creating a sense of belonging that is not lost at retirement. This generates a virtuous circle of respect and pride so as to create a strong corporate culture usually called "de la camiseta puesta" ("wearing the company's shirt").

Acknowledging this change of stages as one of the big "hinges" in the life of human beings, we began working to strengthen the bridge from one stage to the next by providing employees with professional guidance. Now, each person who enters the pre-retirement stage is guided by EA professionals and human resources professionals and others at SCJ so they may better understand and value the new stage they are beginning. They are also offered the opportunity to continue receiving the same health insurance benefits they enjoyed as active employees.

In addition to offering guidance, SCJ created "Our Retirees Group," a plan of work and leisure consisting of several meetings each year featuring workshops and lectures on subjects of interest, special celebrations (such as the International Day of the Elderly), community projects, leisure activities, and a year-end barbecue.

PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS

The main purpose of the Retirement Psychological Prevention Program is to prepare employees and their family members for the retirement stage. The program includes the following:

Interviews. The program consists of seven to ten interviews, depending on the needs of the participant. Interviews are conducted by a psychologist or psychiatrist trained in retirement issues. They are held at the company and are voluntary The first five interviews take place prior to retirement (preparation stage), while the remainder are held alter the employee has retired (follow-up stage).

* The first interview is conducted solely with the individual. The purpose of this interview is to gather information about the employee who is about to retire--for example, the person(s) with whom he/she lives, the employee's occupation, the tasks he/she performed at work and the skills he/she learned, the person's values and hobbies, and so on.

* Interviews are then arranged with members of the person's family that he/she wishes to include. The goal of these interviews is to learn family members' expectations and/or fears with respect to retirement.

* During the preparation interviews, the employee and his/her family members are guided in the planning of activities for the retirement stage, such as independent professional actions, hobbies, sports, home activities, and social activities.

* Interviews in the preparation stage also address beliefs regarding, and attitudes toward, the retirement stage.

Follow-up. In the follow-up stage, the retiree is interviewed three weeks after retirement in order to review and readjust the work done during the preparation stage. The EA professional and the retiree agree on suitable times and ways to continue with follow-up activities.

The experience accumulated during the first year of work with this program allows us to state that persons participating in it say that it is extremely helpful to confront the changes required by retirement and that they are most grateful to SCJ for taking care of this portion of their lives. Their words encourage us to continue thinking about and designing new ways to preventively approach this difficult aspect of employees' work and personal lives.

References

Pittman Frank S. "Momentos decisivos." Tratamiento de familias en situaciones de crisis. ("Decisive moments." Families' treatment in crisis situations). Editorial Paidos.

Andrea Lardani is a clinical psychologist and is clinical manager for EAP LatinA Corporation, an EAP provider serving employers and employees in Central and South America.

Raul Correa is the human resources manager for S.C. Johnson & Son in Argentina.