Contact & connect—an intervention to reduce depression stigma and symptoms in construction workers: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundMales employed in the construction industry have high rates of suicide. Although reasons underpinning this risk are multifaceted, poor help-seeking and stigma are represent major contributors. Males in the construction industry are also exposed to other risk factors for mental ill health and suicide, including unemployment. Sigma-reducing interventions that are accessible and attractive to recently unemployed males in the construction industry could therefore improve help-seeking, and address depression and suicidal behaviour in this population.Methods/DesignContact&Connect will use a parallel individual randomized design to evaluate the effectiveness of a multimedia-based intervention aimed at reducing stigma. The intervention consists of a package of 12 brief contact interventions (BCIs) delivered over a six month period. BCIs will direct participants to informational programs and microsites. Content will address three major themes: debunking depression myths and stereotypes, normalisation, and empowerment. Target enrolment is 630 (315 in each arm), each to be followed for 12 months. Eligible participants will be males, between 30 and 64 years, unemployed at the time of recruitment, registered with Incolink (a social welfare trustee company for unemployed members of the construction industry), and own a smart phone with enabled internet connectivity.DiscussionAt present, there are no programs that have been shown to be effective in reducing stigma in the blue-collar male population. Contact&Connect promises to provide a tailored, efficient, and scalable approach to reducing stigma, depressive symptoms and suicidality among unemployed males.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Register ACTRN12615000792527 (date of registration: 30 July, 2015).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2394-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Masculinities in the construction industry: A double‐edged sword for health and wellbeing?

“…Previous research has found connections between masculinity and poor health and lifestyle within the construction industry (Stergiou‐Kita et al, ), for example, relating to diet (McGlone & Baker, ; Okoro, Musonda, & Agumba, ) and mental health (Milner, Witt, Burnside, Wilson, & LaMontagne, ). Given that ‘males in the construction industry are at greater risk of suicide than those in the general working population’ (Milner et al, , p. 1), some of the health outcomes can be extremely serious. Construction workers are also statistically more likely to retire due to ill health than the general workforce (Brenner & Ahern, ).…”

A smart-phone intervention to address mental health stigma in the construction industry: A two-arm randomised controlled trial

“…Further, 70% of those who received a baseline survey also returned a survey at the conclusion of the intervention period. The total sample size fell below our expectation, but was still adequate to observe results for depression stigma based on our original power calculations ( Milner, Witt, Burnside, Wilson & LaMontagne, 2015 ).

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“…Following randomisation, a staff member at Incolink provided the participants allocated to the intervention group with access to the Contact+Connect program. The content of the Contact+Connect program itself (containing an anti-stigma component) has been detailed elsewhere ( Milner et al, 2015 ). Briefly, the program was delivered to participants’ smart phones via rich text messages with embedded hyperlinks to microsites and other digital resources such as videos and digital wallet cards.…”

Evaluation of multi-level intervention strategies for a psychologically healthy construction workplace in Nigeria

“…These risk factors relate to job demand, job control, job support, workplace injustice, welfare, socio-economic status, work hazard, family and coping mechanism (Chan et al , 2020). At the individual level, continuous exposure to these risk factors leads to job dissatisfaction and poor mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety (Milner et al , 2015; Kotera et al , 2020), and reduced work performance with a ripple effect on organization cost and performance. At the organization level, the risk factors and related poor mental health causes absenteeism, presenteeism, low productivity, high safety claims and employee turnover (Rajgopal, 2010; Milner et al , 2015; Nwaogu et al , 2019; Kotera et al , 2020).…”

“…At the individual level, continuous exposure to these risk factors leads to job dissatisfaction and poor mental health symptoms such as depression and anxiety (Milner et al , 2015; Kotera et al , 2020), and reduced work performance with a ripple effect on organization cost and performance. At the organization level, the risk factors and related poor mental health causes absenteeism, presenteeism, low productivity, high safety claims and employee turnover (Rajgopal, 2010; Milner et al , 2015; Nwaogu et al , 2019; Kotera et al , 2020). The ripple effect of protracted poor mental health includes suicidality and eventual suicide (Milner et al , 2015; Burki, 2018).…”