Abstract
As part of a suite of early intervention training and support services, Mates in Construction (MATES) provide two general awareness programs to promote mental health and suicide awareness and encourage help-offering and help-seeking in construction workers. General awareness training (GAT) is a one-hour session delivered to all construction workers on large to medium worksites, while MATES awareness training (MAT) maintains similar content but is of shorter duration and delivered informally to small workplaces. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the two programs using a before, after and follow-up design. Construction workers undertaking MAT or GAT training completed a short survey before and after their training and again at follow-up. Linear mixed-effect modelling indicated that GAT and MAT training provided similar results in improving suicide awareness and help-seeking intentions. Some variables showed a significant increase from pre-intervention to the three-month follow-up, indicating the long-term impact of some aspects of the training. The findings demonstrating the effectiveness of MAT training have important implications for MATES, as the training can be delivered to much smaller workplaces, making the program more widely available to the construction industry.
Highlights
Suicide rates differ across industry and occupational groups, with the construction sector identified as one of the highest occupational risk groups for suicide in Australia [1,2,3]
The overall measure and the five suicide awareness items showed a significant increase from pre- to post-intervention, but only the item, If my workmate was going through a difficult time, feeling upset or thinking about suicide, I would know how to connect him/her to appropriate help significantly increased from pre-intervention to follow-up
If my workmate was going through a difficult time feeling up set or thinking about suicide, I would know how to connect him/her to appropriate help
Summary
Suicide rates differ across industry and occupational groups, with the construction sector identified as one of the highest occupational risk groups for suicide in Australia [1,2,3]. Mates in Construction (MATES) was designed to address these high suicide rates through the implementation of a multi-component prevention and early intervention program. GKT aims to enable non-specialists to identify and respond to those at risk and is one of the most common forms of suicide prevention training [4]. Evidence suggests that GKT is effective in reducing suicide as part of a systematic approach to suicide prevention. It has been adopted in many community suicide-prevention strategies worldwide
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