Hospitali ya Mirembe: Kuwe na Washauri Kazini ili kuponya Majereha ya Kiakili kwa Wafanyakazi

[Mtoa Taarifa]

IMESHAURIWA na wanataaluma wa afya ya akili kwamba, mahali pa kazi kuwapo ‘mentors’ (washauri), ili kuponya ‘majeraha’ ya kiakili kazini yanayowakumba wafanyakazi kama vile sonona na msongo wa mawazo.

Bingwa wa Afya na Magonjwa ya Akili, kutoka Hospitali ya Taifa ya Afya ya Akili Mirembe (MNMH). Dk. Godwin Mwisomba, amesema takwimu za dunia zinaonesha mahali pa kazi ni eneo mojawapo la chanzo cha magonjwa ya akili.

“Utafiti wa Shirika la Afya Duniani (WHO), unaeleza kwenye kila wafanyakazi watano, mmoja wao ana ‘work related stress’ (msongo wa mawazo utokanao na kazi), na kusababisha magonjwa ya akili.

Pia kuna utafiti wa Deloitte wa mwaka 2022 unasema kwamba asilimia 84 ya wafanyakazi wamepitia changamoto za msongo utokanao na kazi ama mazingira ya kazi,” alisema Dk. Mwisomba.

“Utafiti wa Deloitte umegundua kwamba wazazi ambao wanajali afya ya akili ya mtoto wao walijikuta wakijitahidi kufanya vyema kazini na kuendeleza maisha yao ya nyumbani na kazini. Kazi hufanya sehemu kubwa ya maisha yetu.”

Dk. Godwin alisema sheria ya afya ya akili, bado haijaegemea katika masuala ya afya ya akili mahali pa kazi, ili kuweka masuala hayo kisheria, kama vile kutoa huduma ya kwanza ya afya ya akili iwapo kuna hitaji hilo kazini.

Alisema kuelekea Siku ya Afya ya Akili Duniani, kila jamii, mwajiri na mwajiriwa ni muhimu kuangalia wajibu wao, ili kulinda afya ya akili, kwa kuweka mazingira rafiki ya kufanyia kazi.

“Historia inaonesha ni suala muhimu katika elimu hii, inabidi tulizungumzie kwa sababu utafiti namba zinaonesha kuna tatizo kuhusu suala la afya ya akili mahali pa kazi.

Utakuta kuna watu wanafanya kazi mtandaoni, wapo wameajiriwa huko, je, bosi anakutreat vipi. Au kama umejiajiri mazingira yako yakoje? Labda unapokea matusi mtandaoni vyote hivyo vinahitaji kuzungumza kama kazi ya mtandaoni inakuletea kipato kuna tatizo, kuna haja ya kulizungumzia.”

Mwanasaikolojia kutoka Hatua Therapies, Jestus August, alisema katika mahala pa kazi kumtambua mfanyakazi bora mbele ya hadhira ni jambo jema, ingawa kwa baadhi ya wafanyakazi huwa chanzo cha magonjwa ya akili kama vile sonona.

Alisema pia mahala pa kazi iwapo miongoni mwa wafanyakazi mwenzako amekukosea si vyema kumsema kwa watu, badala yake mhusika afuatwe kwa lugha ya kirafiki.

“Ni muhimu kuwa na ‘mentors’ washauri, kuna wakati mabosi wetu wanatukosea, wafanyakazi wenzetu wanatukosea, malipo hayaturidhishi hivyo ili kupona na kuwa na afya ya akili yenye utengamao kuna haja ya kuwa na ‘mentors’ hawa ni zaidi ya walimu ili kutuweka sawa,” alisema mwanasaikolojia huyo.

Alisema mahali pa kazi pia vijana huathiriwa zaidi, kama vile kuegemea katika ushabiki wa timu za michezo ya aina tofauti, huku wakitoa kauli zisizofaa kulingana na mazingira walioko, wakijisahau kwamba eneo hilo ni mahali pa kazi.

“Kuna ambao wanavaa tofauti mahali pa kazi, anaambiwa usivae viatu vua michezo yeye anavaa mahali pa kazi. Kingine ni kutamani kuweka malengo binafsi hasa kwa waliotoka vyuoni kutaka maendeleo ya haraka kuliko aliowakuta kazini.

Kijana anakuwa na matarajio makubwa kwamba anawaza awe na mshahara mkubwa, awe na safari nyingi za nje, apendwe sana na bosi, asafiri nje sana, hayo matarajio hayo yanamfanya atamani makubwa, asipopata mambo yanaharibika, anadhani kazi hii ndio italeta mafanikio kwa ukoo, familia yote, huku mshahara kidogo, unavuruga afya ya akili,” alisema August.

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Key Facts​

• Decent work is good for mental health.
• Poor working environments – including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control, and job insecurity – pose a risk to mental health.
• 15% of working-age adults were estimated to have a mental disorder in 2019.
• Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety, at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity.
• There are effective actions to prevent mental health risks at work, protect and promote mental health at work, and support workers with mental health conditions.

Overview​

Almost 60% of the world population is in work. All workers have the right to a safe and healthy environment at work. Work can protect mental health. Decent work supports good mental health by providing:

• a livelihood;
• a sense of confidence, purpose, and achievement;
• an opportunity for positive relationships and inclusion in a community; and
• a platform for structured routines, among many other benefits.

For people with mental health conditions, decent work can contribute to recovery and inclusion, improve confidence, and social functioning.
Safe and healthy working environments are not only a fundamental right but are also more likely to minimize tension and conflicts at work and improve staff retention, work performance, and productivity. Conversely, a lack of effective structures and support at work, especially for those living with mental health conditions, can affect a person’s ability to enjoy their work and do their job well; it can undermine people’s attendance at work and even stop people from getting a job in the first place.

Risks to Mental Health at Work​

At work, risks to mental health, also called psychosocial risks, may be related to job content or work schedule, specific characteristics of the workplace, or opportunities for career development, among other things.
Risks to mental health at work can include:

• under-use of skills or being under-skilled for work;
• excessive workloads or work pace, understaffing;
• long, unsocial, or inflexible hours;
• lack of control over job design or workload;
• unsafe or poor physical working conditions;
• organizational culture that enables negative behaviors;
• limited support from colleagues or authoritarian supervision;
• violence, harassment, or bullying;
• discrimination and exclusion;
• unclear job role;
• under- or over-promotion;
• job insecurity, inadequate pay, or poor investment in career development; and
• conflicting home/work demands.

More than half the global workforce works in the informal economy, where there is no regulatory protection for health and safety. These workers often operate in unsafe working environments, work long hours, have little or no access to social or financial protections, and face discrimination, all of which can undermine mental health.
Although psychosocial risks can be found in all sectors, some workers are more likely to be exposed to them than others, because of what they do or where and how they work. Health, humanitarian, or emergency workers often have jobs that carry an elevated risk of exposure to adverse events, which can negatively impact mental health.

Economic recessions or humanitarian and public health emergencies elicit risks such as job loss, financial instability, reduced employment opportunities, or increased unemployment.

Work can be a setting that amplifies wider issues that negatively affect mental health, including discrimination and inequality based on factors such as race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social origin, migrant status, religion, or age.

People with severe mental health conditions are more likely to be excluded from employment, and when in employment, they are more likely to experience inequality at work. Being out of work also poses a risk to mental health. Unemployment, job and financial insecurity, and recent job loss are risk factors for suicide attempts.

Action for Mental Health at Work​

Government, employers, the organizations which represent workers and employers, and other stakeholders responsible for workers’ health and safety can help to improve mental health at work through action to:

• prevent work-related mental health conditions by preventing the risks to mental health at work;
• protect and promote mental health at work;
• support workers with mental health conditions to participate and thrive in work; and
• create an enabling environment for change.

Action to address mental health at work should be done with the meaningful involvement of workers and their representatives and persons with lived experience of mental health conditions.

Prevent Work-Related Mental Health Conditions​

Preventing mental health conditions at work is about managing psychosocial risks in the workplace. WHO recommends employers do this by implementing organizational interventions that directly target working conditions and environments. Organizational interventions are those that assess, and then mitigate, modify or remove workplace risks to mental health. Organizational interventions include, for example, providing flexible working arrangements or implementing frameworks to deal with violence and harassment at work.

Protect and Promote Mental Health at Work​

Protecting and promoting mental health at work is about strengthening capacities to recognize and act on mental health conditions at work, particularly for persons responsible for the supervision of others, such as managers.

To protect mental health, WHO recommends:

• manager training for mental health, which helps managers recognize and respond to supervisees experiencing emotional distress; builds interpersonal skills like open communication and active listening; and fosters better understanding of how job stressors affect mental health and can be managed;
• training for workers in mental health literacy and awareness, to improve knowledge of mental health and reduce stigma against mental health conditions at work; and
• interventions for individuals to build skills to manage stress and reduce mental health symptoms, including psychosocial interventions and opportunities for leisure-based physical activity.

Support People with Mental Health Conditions to Participate in and Thrive at Work​

People living with mental health conditions have a right to participate in work fully and fairly. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides an international agreement for promoting the rights of people with disabilities (including psychosocial disabilities), including at work. WHO recommends three interventions to support people with mental health conditions gain, sustain, and participate in work:

• Reasonable accommodations at work adapt working environments to the capacities, needs, and preferences of a worker with a mental health condition. They may include giving individual workers flexible working hours, extra time to complete tasks, modified assignments to reduce stress, time off for health appointments, or regular supportive meetings with supervisors.
• Return-to-work programs combine work-directed care (like reasonable accommodations or phased re-entry to work) with ongoing clinical care to support workers in meaningfully returning to work after an absence associated with mental health conditions, while also reducing mental health symptoms.
• Supported employment initiatives help people with severe mental health conditions to get into paid work and maintain their time on work through continued mental health and vocational support.

Create an Enabling Environment for Change​

Both governments and employers, in consultation with key stakeholders, can help improve mental health at work by creating an enabling environment for change. In practice, this means strengthening:

• leadership and commitment to mental health at work, for example by integrating mental health at work into relevant policies;
• investment of sufficient funds and resources, for example by establishing dedicated budgets for actions to improve mental health at work and making mental health and employment services available to lower-resourced enterprises;
• rights to participate in work, for example by aligning employment laws and regulations with international human rights instruments and implementing non-discrimination policies at work;
• integration of mental health at work across sectors, for example by embedding mental health into existing systems for occupational safety and health;
• participation of workers in decision-making, for example by holding meaningful and timely consultations with workers, their representatives, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions;
• evidence on psychosocial risks and the effectiveness of interventions, for example by ensuring that all guidance and action on mental health at work is based on the latest evidence; and
• compliance with laws, regulations, and recommendations, for example by integrating mental health into the responsibilities of national labor inspectorates and other compliance mechanisms.

WHO Response​

WHO is committed to improving mental health at work. The WHO global strategy on health, environment, and climate change and the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (2013–2030) outline relevant principles, objectives, and implementation strategies to enable good mental health in the workplace. These include addressing social determinants of mental health, such as living standards and working conditions, reducing stigma and discrimination, and increasing access to evidence-based care through health service development, including access to occupational health services.

In 2022, WHO’s World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All highlighted the workplace as a key setting where transformative action on mental health is needed.

The WHO guidelines on mental health at work provide evidence-based recommendations to promote mental health, prevent mental health conditions, and enable people living with mental health conditions to participate and thrive in work. The recommendations cover organizational interventions, manager training and worker training, individual interventions, return to work, and gaining employment. The accompanying policy brief by WHO and the International Labour Organization, Mental Health at Work: Policy Brief, provides a pragmatic framework for implementing the WHO recommendations. It specifically sets out what governments, employers, organizations representing employers and workers, and other stakeholders can do to improve mental health at work.