Mental Health Is Serious Business - An Approach Based on Evidence

The growing rate of suicide and other mental health concerns have pushed the construction industry to take serious actions toward protecting and improving the well-being of its employees. However, mental health-related issues are incredibly personal, medically complex, and resource-intensive. As such, Research Team 401 (RT-401) sought to find what companies should and should not do when it comes to their employees’ mental health.

In the current environment of global trends in poor mental health, many individuals masquerade as “experts” to sell silver-bullet solutions. They promise an impossible range of outcomes, from improving employees’ resilience against mental health issues to even disrupting suicide ideation. As non-medical experts, construction professionals understandably can underplay the likelihood that ill-planned interventions can, at best, result in nothing but, at worst, cause further harm. To this end, this research project aimed to equip professionals in the industry with knowledge on not only what needs to be done but also how to avoid falling prey to ineffective and ill-conceived solutions.