Workplace Mental Health Programs and Employee Performance in Uganda's Public Sector: Implications for Public Administration and Human Resource Management

Workplace mental health has implications for employee dignity, organisational capability and the quality of public administration. However, claims that mental health programmes automatically improve employee performance often exceed the available evidence, particularly when international intervention findings are applied to Uganda without contextual evaluation. This article critically reviews workplace mental health programmes and their possible performance implications in Uganda's public sector. It uses a structured narrative review of selected Ugandan research, international intervention evidence and conceptual literature. An integrated framework combines prevention of harmful working conditions, supportive management, confidential access to care and appropriate work adjustments. The review finds that Ugandan frontline-worker evidence identifies a significant concern but does not establish prevalence across the entire public service. An international manager-training trial provides relevant intervention evidence while remaining context specific. Wellbeing, attendance, productivity and citizen-facing service quality must be measured separately. The article proposes a staged implementation and evaluation approach that protects confidentiality, accounts for workload and staffing, and avoids making treatment participation a condition of favourable appraisal. It concludes that mental health programmes should form part of responsible public management, with performance claims tested through proportionate and credible evaluation rather than assumed from programme adoption.