Black Dog Institute Turns To Construction Workers To Address Mental Health Support
Dr Andrew Arena is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Workplace Mental Health Research Team at the Black Dog Institute, Australia’s largest and most influential research team working in the area of workplace mental health. Dr Arena recently led a large survey of construction and utilities workers across Australia, which found that 1 In 4 workers had high symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
Construction workers face several challenges within the workplace that increase the risk of mental health issues. The survey found that having unclear or conflicting work responsibilities and having limited control over how workers do their job are key risk factors to address.
“When a worker’s role is ambiguous, or conflicts with another work role they have, it adds considerable complexity and mental strain to their daily work life. Also, when a worker doesn’t feel like they have control over how they work and the decisions that affect them, they’re likely to feel unmotivated and depleted. Over time, these challenges can contribute to stress, burnout, and mental ill-health—especially when coupled with the high job demands of the construction industry,” says Dr Arena.
The survey also found that 25% of workers who needed mental health support never accessed it.
“Rates of help-seeking tend to be low in male-dominated industries like construction, where stigma around mental health issues remains quite high,” says Dr Arena.
“Construction workers typically have a strong preference for being self-reliant and avoid talking about their emotions—two things that will stand in the way of getting help when they need it. This is just one thing that increases the risk of mental health issues for this group.”
The tools for an evidence-based approach
An effective strategy that prevents mental health issues and promotes good mental health at work will target different levels within the organisation.
Equipping managers with the skills to implement mentally healthy practices is an essential team-level approach.
Organisations that invest in evidence-based mental health training that upskill managers to better support the mental health needs of their staff can result in leaders who are more confident and engage in more mentally healthy workplace practices such as initiating conversations with staff about their mental health, and promoting early help-seeking. They are also better placed to manage work-related mental health risk factors for their staff such as job demands and working with staff to provide a greater sense of job control. Employees who have more supportive supervisors have also been found to have lower rates of work-related sickness absence.
Mental health training for managers is one of the most effective interventions in terms of return-on-investment. The Black Dog Institute’s research shows returns of up to 10:1 for every dollar invested in training through increased productivity and reduced mental health-related workers compensation claims.
At the individual worker level, digital tools can provide an accessible solution to building better mental health at work, through strengthening the capacity for resilience, reducing stigma, and providing access to mental health resources.
The Black Dog Institute is currently tailoring a new version of one of their mental health apps, HeadGear, to be more specific to construction workers. An initiative funded by leading construction company and Black Dog Institute Corporate Partner, Fulton Hogan, The free app guides workers through a 30-day challenge where they complete one short activity a day, building evidence-based skills for managing stress and improving wellbeing. Both the survey findings and workers’ feedback on the app will be used to adapt the content to best reflect workers’ needs and preferences.
HeadGear has been shown to improve mental health and wellbeing, and overcomes barriers to construction workers reaching out for support.
“It puts workers in control of building their own mental fitness, and so honours their preference for self-reliance. It also enables workers to get support anonymously, so they don’t have to speak to people directly before they’re ready. When there’s a lot of stigma around mental health, giving people an immediately available, discreet option to get support can help prevent people from falling under the radar,” says Dr Arena.
Source: Black Dog Institute Turns To Construction Workers To Address Mental Health Support
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