Men have over time proven to be a particular difficult cohort to reach and engage with in public health generally and suicide prevention in particular. The MATES in Construction program was developed to reduce suicide rates amongst construction workers in Australia. The MATES program was developed by construction workers for construction workers and has successfully been able to reach close to 400,000 workers developing a mental health and suicide prevention network of close to 35,000 volunteers across the construction industry.
This study used semi-structured interviews and a reflexive thematic approach to collect and analyse data from 28 MATES program volunteers. The aim was tofold. Firstly, to understand how relationships between MATES peer staff and program volunteers fostered trust and confidence in the MATES program. Secondly, to understand how the MATES program positionality within the Construction industry generally influence engagement with, and acceptability of, the MATES organisation and staff. The study describes the importance of relatability of the MATES staff in building worker trust, the importance of MATES organisation’s authentic industry base and endorsement in making the program acceptable to the industry.
This presentation explores the impact of relationships within the MATES in Construction suicide prevention program in the construction industry. The finding of this study may have general application for community based suicide prevention. It describes how high quality suicide prevention training with the support of lived experience and community knowledge can combine in building community suicide prevention and resilience.