Building a ‘Sense of Place’ to support mental health in construction: A conceptual model

Sense of Place (SoP) centres on community, belonging, and identity and is associated with psychological wellbeing. The SoP concept is underscored by a positive psychology approach which focuses on conditions and processes in the workplace that contribute to flourishing or optimal functioning. It is proposed that in construction, creating SoP in the workplace will yield benefits for workers’ psychological wellbeing. In the construction industry SoP is a relatively understudied area. The conditions and processes which contribute to SoP are not well understood, and this presents as a gap in the literature. The aim of the research was to respond to this gap by identifying a set of protective workplace factors which contribute to SoP in construction, are mutually exclusive, and are measurable. An integrative literature review was undertaken and six components associated with SoP were identified: community, respect, life balance, support, resilience, and engagement. Each of the six components is defined, their relation to mental health is identified, and a set of scales is outlined. A limitation of the study is the lack of empirical evidence for the SoP components and associated scales. It is recommended that future research empirically evaluate the six components of SoP in a construction workforce setting. We acknowledge that developing SoP in construction projects is likely to be challenging due to the temporary nature of work and a transient workforce. However, given the high levels of mental ill-health in the construction industry, it is imperative that strategies seeking to promote mental health are encouraged and supported.