Health Systems & Policy

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Browsing Health Systems & Policy by Author "Vokhiwa, Maclean"

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    Measuring the value of an employee assistance program intervention using the workplace outcome suite well-being scales in Malawi
    (2020-03-01) Vokhiwa, Maclean
    The lack of local evidence on the effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) has restricted the scope of Malawi workplace well-being programs, as well as hindering training for local EAP professionals. Such evidence is relevant to support the spread of EAP into African countries. Global statistics indicate that EAPs significantly improve workplace outcomes (p<0.05) with equal effectiveness across demographic factors. However, the effectiveness of EAP within localised African settings has received little attention in academic research. This study sought to establish the effectiveness of an EAP intervention on work-related outcomes among Malawian employees.It adopts a mixed method, quantitative correlational ‘pre-post’ design to examine improvement over time in employees after EAP intervention, during 2018/2019. The target population was 335 employees working in a local organisation receiving EAP services. Dependent on chance and employee consent, 318 participants enrolled at pre-test and 226 (71%) completed assessments after EAP. The Chestnut Global Partners’ Workplace Outcomes Suit (CGP-WOS) and a basic demographic questionnaire were used. Descriptively, there was no characteristic difference among participants between the two time-points, as well as between post-test responders and non-responders, p>0.05. Paired mean comparison tests indicated statistically significant improvement after EAP in four of five outcome scores. In addition, regression analysis indicated that participant characteristics do not predict this improvement. Furthermore, analysis of themes indicated that the intervention met participant expectations. The study established that EAP locally reduced absenteeism, presenteeism, and workplace distress, and increased employee life satisfaction, p<0.05. It also recommends adoption of EAP policies across Malawian organisations, training of local professionals, as well as the need for rigorous research among local workplace well-being programs