Rendering services within the employee assistance programme (EAP) in the Gauteng Department of Health : views and experiences of social workers

Abstract

The Employee Assistance Programme is regarded as a tool that could assist employees in organisations with both their personal and work-related problems. This has become evident as more employers are offering these services to their employees. The goal of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of social workers’ views and experiences in rendering EAP services in the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH). The study used a qualitative research approach by focusing on the explorative, descriptive, and contextual designs. Constructivist theory and the person-environmentfit model formed the framework of this study. Purposeful sampling (a criterion-based sample) was used to select social workers rendering EAP services in the GDOH. Eleven social workers who met the criteria participated in the study and their ages ranged between 33 and 50 years. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The Tesch’s eight steps of data analysis was used, and data verification was conducted based on the Guba model. The findings in this study indicate that EAP is an important programme. However, it is not prioritised by the GDoH. Consequently, EAP practitioners experience challenges that negatively affect the provision of quality EAP services. Despite the challenges, most of the EAP practitioners nonetheless continue to render these services albeit under difficult circumstances since they love and have a passion for the work they do.