Shifting Beliefs about Suicide: Pre-Post Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Program for Workers in the Construction Industry

Tania L. King, Jorgen Gullestrup, Philip J. Batterham, Brian Kelly, Chris Lockwood, Helen Lingard, Samuel B. Harvey, Anthony D. LaMontagne and Allison Milner
Additional contact information
Tania L. King: Centre for Health Equity, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Jorgen Gullestrup: MATES in Construction, Spring Hill 4000, Australia
Philip J. Batterham: Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia
Brian Kelly: School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia
Chris Lockwood: MATES in Construction, Spring Hill 4000, Australia
Helen Lingard: Construction Work Health and Safety Research @ RMIT, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne 3000, Australia
Samuel B. Harvey: Black Dog Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Anthony D. LaMontagne: Work, Health and Wellbeing Unit, Population Health Research Centre, School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, Geelong 3217, Australia
Allison Milner: Centre for Health Equity, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Suicide is a significant health problem that is known to disproportionately affect those employed in manual occupations, including construction workers and tradespeople. Universal General Awareness Training (GAT) was part of a multi-component suicide prevention program in the Australian construction industry. The program’s aims were to increase awareness of mental health and suicide, reduce stigma, and encourage help-seeking and help-offering behaviours. This paper sought to examine the effectiveness of the GAT program in shifting suicide beliefs. Pre- and post-training survey data of 20,125 respondents was obtained from a database of GAT evaluation results between 2016 and 2018. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were fitted to examine belief changes, and predictive margins and their SEs were computed. Mean differences in belief change were obtained for the overall sample, and by occupation. Modest but significant favourable shifts in three of the four beliefs assessed were observed following GAT. Managers and professionals showed greater propensity to shift beliefs, and Labourers and Machinery Operators and Drivers showed least. Results suggest that GAT can successfully shift some beliefs regarding suicide and mental health at least in the short term, but highlight the need to tailor communication to vulnerable occupational groups.

Keywords: mental health; suicide; occupation; construction workers; beliefs; intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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