THE MATES MODEL
MATES is an integrated industry intervention program that:
• Raises awareness of suicide as a preventable problem
• Builds stronger and more resilient workers
• Connects workers to the best available help and support
• Partners with researchers to inform industry around best mental health practice
How does MATES achieve this?
MATES field staff will train workers in the workplace to improve mental health and suicide prevention literacy, increase help seeking and help offering and engage the workforce in creating a mentally healthy workplace.
Volunteer Connectors and ASIST workers will be trained to identify, support and connect workers to help and support.
Field Officers will support these workplace volunteers to create on-site networks supporting each other and the worksite in preventing suicide and becoming mentally healthier.
MATES offer a support line and case management to workers who need help and support.
Finally, MATES partner with researchers to inform the industry to affect positive change. One example of this is the Australian Building and Construction Industry Blueprint for Better Mental Health and Suicide Prevention which can be found here.
Training
General Awareness Training (GAT)
GAT Training is delivered to at least 80% of workers on-site and is delivered en masse and on-site. This training introduces workers to the nature of the problem, that it’s okay to talk about mental health and provides practical guidance as to how they can assist.
Training Contact TrainingConnector
Connector Training is provided to those people on site who volunteer to become a Connector - a person trained to help keep someone safe in a crisis, while at the same time connecting them to professional help.
Training Contact TrainingASIST
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) equips individuals to become an ASIST worker, comparable to the first aid officer on-site. ASIST workers will talk to a person contemplating suicide with the objective of making this person ‘safe’. Using simple skills, an ASIST worker will listen to the person’s concerns and respond to them appropriately with the aim of reaching a ‘safe plan’.
Training ContactSUPPORT
Case Management
MATES employs suitably qualified case managers to assist troubled workers with an effective plan to address their issues. MATES does not provide any services but instead connects the worker to appropriate services in their industry and region, which could include such services as their EAP, financial counselling, drug and alcohol services, grief counselling, family and relationship counselling. We also follow-up with the worker to ensure the help they received was effective. In some cases, we will also advocate for the worker with a service to ensure the service can meet their needs.
Case Management Contact SupportField Visits
MATES employs Field Officers who go from site to site with their region to establish the MATES program where it does not yet exist. If your site or company wants to be involved in the MATES program, go to the ‘Contact Us’ and your local MATES staff will contact you as soon as practicable. Once the MATES program commences on the site, the Field Officer will have contact with that site until it comes to closure. That presence includes both training and support. It could include toolbox talks, presence at site events, regular visits to the site office or crib huts with posters and stickers, and to talk with any workers who may want to talk with MATES. In addition, they will also meet with Connector and ASIST workers as well as provide ongoing General Awareness Training and Connector training as needed.
Field Visits Contact SupportCritical Incidents
Critical incidents and accidents are reasonably regular events on construction sites, and sometimes these events can trigger emotions and reactions in workers that compromise both their safety and mental health. When invited by the site, MATES will attend the site to support its workers after a critical incident. Part of this process is to recharge the onsite MATES network (Connector and ASIST workers) to be vigilant in keeping an eye on their mates for any adverse effects.
Critical Incidents Contact SupportPostvention
This refers to the support a site may need after a worker or a worker’s family member has died by suicide. The MATES program is a suicide prevention program that encourages workers to seek help, often with help for their mates, before an issue gets so big that they consider suicide as an option. The MATES program is not an inoculation against suicide. Because suicide is a personal decision, in some cases those who make that choice do so even when much help and assistance has been offered. The grief that follows a suicide can be complex, often left with many unanswered questions and ‘what ifs’. Postvention is designed to help those grieving after a suicide to ensure that they get the appropriate help and support.
Postvention Contact