Work -Life Balance Practices and Health Workers’ Productivity in Public Hospitals in Kenya: A Case of Mandera County

Abstract

Introduction: Inadequacies of work-life balance practices in public hospitals hasresultedtohigh absenteeism and lateness, less time spent in clinical care, and increased patient waiting time in public hospitals in Mandera County, Kenya. Thisstudy was doneto establish how work-life balance practices such as flexible working options, welfare programs, talent development and leave programsinfluence health workersproductivity in public hospitals in Mandera County. Methods:The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design and a mixed method of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches to data collection. A total of 212 respondents among health workers were sampled from public health hospitals in Mandera County. In addition 24 Key Informants were included in the study. Data collection was done using a structured questionnaire and key informant interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS v22 to generate descriptive information and inferential statistics. Results:Results showed that the following work-life practices influenced health workers’ productivity, 71.2% of the respondents cited flexible working options, 67.5% agreed that welfare programs, 69.8% said that talent development, and 80.1% of respondents cited leave programs. Conclusions: The study concluded that work-life balance practices should be fully implemented by management for improved productivity of health workers in public hospitals in Mandera County. Recommendation:The study recommended that, public hospitals should upgrade health workers well-being programs, improve continuous professional education, implement risk allowance and fully implement existing work life balance strategies for better health worker productivity in Mandera County.