Abstract:

Academic staff employed at universities have teaching, academic and organisational obligations, while expectations set for them exceed the norm adopted in the society. They are expected to conduct innovative research, publish ground-breaking discoveries, establish cooperation with leading scientific centres, obtain international grants, speak at conferences, conduct interesting classes for students and become involved in organisational activities at the university. In addition, such staff should have excellent manners and an impeccable ethical approach. The expectations are endless and their working hours are flexible. In this situation it is very difficult to ensure a good life-work balance, which is why it is necessary to implement centralised solutions as well as local actions at individual educational facilities in order to support the management of academic staff’s health, as healthy employees have better conditions for personal development, contribute to the development of the university as an organisation and to social development by shaping subsequent generations of students. Therefore, the aim of this article is to present a health management system for academic staff from Polish higher education institutions to facilitate their own development as well as the development of the university and the society. To that end, desk research was performed by examining official national documents to search for systemic solutions aimed at maintaining good health of academic staff, and by browsing the websites of 10 best universities in Poland to find examples of lectures, workshops and initiatives dedicated to health and work-life balance of academic staff. The results of the research with conclusions and most of all recommendations may be useful to the management of higher education institutions, academic staff and all other parties interested in health and work-life balance.

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