Barriers to social support in the mental health and well being of construction workers in emerging and developing economies: a systematic review

The purpose of this research is to examine the barriers to social support in mental health and wellbeing in emerging and developing economies’ (EDEs) construction industry. Social support plays a pivotal role in the mental health and wellbeing (MHW) of the people including construction professionals and improves work efficiency, productivity and business performance. However, the barriers to providing it has received little attention. Using systematic literature review where Scopus and ScienceDirect were searched complemented with the citation approach, relevant literature was critically reviewed, analysed and discussed. The barriers to social support occur at four levels namely individual, community including family, organisational and national. While there is a lack of social support for MHW, lack of awareness of what MHW encompasses remains one of the key barriers to support from communities. This tends to be exacerbated by the lack of adequate MHW awareness programmes in EDEs. Social support in MHW is also hindered by the lack of adequate legislation and regulatory framework, which in some cases may be discriminatory. This discrimination against some workers is also reported at community and organisational levels. A key theme that emerged is the lack of enabling platform for social inclusion and relationship of which without these, there cannot be social support in MHW. The study contributes to the body of literature in MHW in EDEs, especially in relation to social support in MHW of construction workers which is underexamined. In improving MHW in EDEs there is a need for improved awareness at the grassroots level with a focus on re-engineering cultural, national and organisational beliefs toward it. The revision of the national policy and legislation will support mental and wellbeing in many EDEs