The Influence of Leadership-Supported Accessibility Inclusion on Service Delivery from Employees with Disability in Level-Six Hospitals in Kenya

Aim: To establish the influence of leadership-supported accessibility-inclusion on service delivery from employees with disabilities in level-six hospitals in Kenya. Methods: A cross-sectional mixed-methods design was employed. Data was collected using two Likert-scale-based questionnaires, having quantitative and qualitative aspects, and observation checklists. Secondary data from study facility employee databases, strategic plans, and disability mainstreaming policy documents were used. The study was informed by human rights and social models, the theory of stigma and stakeholder theory. The target population was 229 employees with disability and 229 supervisors sampled by census from five purposively-selected hospitals. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 29 and N-Vivo version 15 for quantitative and qualitative data, respectively, associations using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and ANOVA to test hypotheses, with p-value < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: Accessibility-inclusion aspects such as assistive devices (77%), building access (77%), and transport (78%) were rated positively. Significant factors influencing service delivery included assistive devices (p = 0.030) and accessible information formats (p = 0.039). Accessibility-inclusion explained 46.3% of the variance in service delivery (F = 153.463, p < 0.001). Service delivery by employees with disabilities was self-rated at 90% and by supervisors at 86%, with high ratings in responsiveness, safety, and customer-centeredness. Conclusions: The study concludes that leadership-supported accessibility-inclusion significantly enhances service delivery by employees with disabilities. Tapping into the talents of these employees through inclusive leadership practices can improve hospital performance and counter prevailing stereotypes and stigma that undermine their employability, independence and opportunity to showcase performance at work. Recommendations: Leaders should spearhead continuous implementation, monitoring, evaluation and research on accessibility-inclusion to support service delivery from employees with disability, inform policy and stakeholders. They should monitor and objectively reward service delivery from employees with disability, while addressing accessibility-inclusion barriers to productivity.