The effect of working environment on workers performance: the case of reproductive and child health care providers in Tarime district

Abstract

Background: The problems of inadequate working environment coupled with low performance of health workers in the health sector in low and middle-income countries like Tanzania, is receiving increased global attention. Some of the reviewed studies done in the country have looked at health worker performance and working environment factors with limited information on the role of working environment and performance of health workers especially focusing on how working environment affect the availability, competence, productivity and responsiveness combined as they affect elements of performance of health workers in reproductive and child health care. So the study looked at the effect of working environment on the performance of reproductive and child health care providers in Tarime district taking into consideration the four indicators of performance which are availability, competence, productivity and responsiveness. Objective: the main objective of this study was to determine the effect of working environment on the performance of reproductive and child health care providers in Tarime district. Materials and methods: A cross sectional exploratory study was conducted in 12 health facilities in the district. One hospital, three health centres and eight dispensaries were involved the study. Data was collected using closed and open ended questionnaires. The main variables in the questionnaire were socio- demographic characteristics (sex, age, marital status and education level), availability of drugs, office building space, presence of privacy, availability of medical supplies. 30 health providers and 147 clients were interviewed. Analysis of data was done by using SPSS version 15.0. Result: The result reveals that the working environment elements have a significant effect on the performance of health providers in the Reproductive and Child Health unit. These elements are presence of office building with the standardized coefficient of 0.369 (p= 0.014), availability of drugs with the standardized coefficient of 0.362 (p= 0.016) and availability of equipment with the standardized coefficient of 0.369 (p = 0.012). vii Conclusion: The work environment has effect on the performance level of employees. Absence of office building, drugs, equipment can affect the performance of the employees. Recommendation: Tarime District authority should provide good working environment to its employees, so as to enable them to perform better.