The role of social identity in a suicide prevention programme for construction workers in Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID22944738
AuthorsJorgen Gullestrup (0000-0003-1777-2536, Deakin University), Sabrina Lynette Thomas (0000-0003-1427-7775, Deakin University), Tania King (0000-0002-1201-2485, The University of Melbourne), Anthony D Lamontagne (0000-0002-5811-5906, Deakin University)
Year2024
Volume39
Issue5
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Promotion International (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0957-4824 • E-ISSN: 1460-2245
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/heapro/daae140
PMID39436760
OpenAlexW4403638018
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

Each year, more than 700 000 people die by suicide globally, the majority of whom are men. The United Nations and World Health Organization have set targets to reduce suicide rates by one-third by 2030. While large-scale suicide prevention programmes are required to meet these targets, diffusion of these types of initiatives is difficult—particularly with male populations. This qualitative study investigated the MATES in Construction suicide prevention programme in Australia. Guided by Social Identity Theory and the Social Identity Model for Collective Action, the study aimed to understand why construction workers chose to volunteer and advocate for industry-based suicide prevention programmes, and how their worker identity, solidarity and relationships impacted their volunteering and advocacy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants who had chosen to engage with MATES as volunteers. Data were interpreted using a reflexive approach to thematic analysis, and four themes were constructed from the data relating to feelings of belonging, connection and solidarity between workers and their industry; how specific context and roles impacted identity while existing within an overall sense of identity and solidarity; how industry mateship supported engagement in suicide prevention; and how the role of lived experience, mateship and responsibility provided hope for change. Providing intervention skills to workers, particularly workers with a lived experience of mental ill-health, empowered them to believe that they could make a difference by acting collectively. The MATES engagement model described in this study may have applications for other health promotion prevention programmes targeting male cultures.

Environmental health · Identity (music) · Mental health · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Public relations · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Social group · Social identity theory · Social science · Sociology · Solidarity · Suicide prevention · Thematic analysis · Agriculture and Farm Safety · Medicine · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies