Ministry of Health has launched guidelines to promote workplace mental wellness.
The guidelines titled National Guidelines on workplace mental wellness which were developed with support from PEPFAR, USCDC and other partners will be used to guide employees and employers in both public, private, formal and informal sectors on Workplace Mental Wellness.
According to Acting Director General for Health, Dr. Patrick Amoth, the guideline aims to empower organizations to promote mental health, prevent, care and support workers mental health well-being, and offer vital support to affected employees.
“The guideline emphasizes that everyone in any working organization to be included in the wellness journey with employees required to engage in selfcare, coping skills, seeking social support and care while employers required to enhance supportive working environment that can easily link employees to care and provide necessary resources to operationalize the guideline,” Dr Amoth said during the launch.
He said that an average adult spends approximately 35 hours a week at work and negative workplace hazards can contribute to at least one mental health condition.
“Mental well-being is critical for creating a healthy working environment,” Dr Amoth said.
While WHO representative Dr Joyce Nato, said that working people, like all people, deserve an inherent right to the highest attainable standards of mental health at work regardless of their type of employment.
“People with mental health conditions deserve a right to access, participate, and thrive in work,” She said adding that “governments and employers have a responsibility to uphold that right by providing work that simultaneously prevents workers from experiencing excessive stress and mental health risks, protecting and promoting workers mental health and well being and support people to fully and effectively participate in the workforce, free from stigma, discrimination or abuse.”
Globally an estimated 15 percent of working adults have mental disorders at any point intime.
In 2019, 301 million people were living with anxiety, 280 million with depression, 64 million with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder while 703,000 people die by suicide each year, many of these individuals were of working age, according to WHO estimates.
The psychological counselling and wellness unit at the State Department of Public Service found mental health challenges among public servants greatly affect their performance and productivity.
Furthermore, in 2021, mental health conditions cost the Kenya economy KES 62.2 billion (US$571.8 million), an equivalent loss of 0.6percent of the GDP in 2020. Majority of these costs was attributed to absenteeism 49percent and presenteeism 30percent. While total healthcare expenditure represented only 9percent of all mental health-related costs.
Mental health is more than the absence of mental health conditions, instead it is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with everyday normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to his or her community.
Lukoye Atwoli, a Professor of Psychiatry said that responsibility of each of us to destigmatize suicide and decriminalize suicide as it is a symptom and product of mental health.
“It is important to talk about mental health in schools, workplaces, home and identify when colleagues and friends are struggling and help them get care.”
Senior Assistant Inspector General Rosemary Kurari said that prevalence of suicide cases is higher in the national police service than general public because of the nature of their work which involves constant handling of traumatic incidence and accidents.
According to department of labour, secretary occupational health and safety,Dr Musa Nyandusi beyond the national guidelines organizations need to develop regulations on psychosocial hazards and even broader mental health at work policy.
He says that the regulations will enable the country to address the rising mental health conditions diagnosed as occupational diseases, address issues of employments of persons living with mental health conditions, return to work initiative and considerations for work injury compensation.
