Improving mental health and wellbeing for young men in the building and construction industry

Abstract

Statistics on causes of death gathered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010) report that suicide was the leading cause amongst young men in Australia between the ages of 15-24. The figures have been similarly high for over a decade. In Australia these alarming statistics have led to the funding of a range of programmes tackling youth suicide and more recently programmes that are aimed at improving help-seeking behaviours of young men. The programme reported in this paper is one such programme that is working with young men in the building and construction industry who are regarded at even greater risk of poor mental health outcomes. The research that was undertaken uncovered some of the impact of a universal programme on improving the protective factors of young men in this industry. Young men can present themselves in a very positive light as robust and resilient human beings, contrary to much of the research that has been undertaken with a focus on young men in building and construction and living in rural and remote communities. This paper discusses the data and uses the material to consider how resilient young men in this industry can become key informants and informal peer mentors.