Measures to boost mental health in the construction industry : lessons from the Nigerian workplace

Abstract

The construction industry's workforce is experiencing deteriorating mental health. In Nigeria, the reported prevalence rate of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among construction supervisors is 55.1%, 14.8%, and 0.1%, respectively. Thus, spurring this research into examining measures to implement to prevent and mitigate the onset of common mental ill-health. This was done by evaluating a mix of 19 strategies divided into seven constructs that can be adopted to promote mental health. The strategies were selected from existing literature using the multi-modal intervention approach to mental health promotion as a guiding principle. Surveys were collected from 82 purposively selected construction supervisors and experts, and were analyzed using mean score and Mann-Whitney U test. The study revealed that strategies related to morale-boosting are essential. The study highlights primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention strategies that could be implemented to boost mental health and well-being in the construction workplace. This study contributes to the existing global body of knowledge on measures essential for workplace intervention on health and safety.