A sense of place: Building a mentally healthy workplace (2019-2025)

Summary

A literature review was undertaken to identify characteristics of work environments that reflect positive psychological health and wellbeing. Six components were identified: community, engagement, respect, life balance, support & resilience. A measurement tool was developed to measure these six components of a positive workplace Sense of Place. The tool has been tested for reliability and validity. The six components are statistically significantly linked to a positive measure of mental health and wellbeing (The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale). The Sense of Place measurement tool is now being used in construction projects in New Zealand to benchmark work environments that support positive psychological health and wellbeing.

Team

• Chenjunyan Sun
• Helen Lingard
• Michelle Turner
• James Harley
• Dr Payam Pirzadeh

Partners

• Cross Yarra Partnership (CYP) funded through the WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund

Publications

• Literature review: A Sense of Place: Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace.
• Research to practice report: Sense of Place: Building mentally healthy work environments in the construction industry

Peer-reviewed papers/outputs

• LINGARD, H. & TURNER, M. (2023). Measuring sense of place in project environments to promote positive mental wellbeing. International Journal of Project Management, 41(6), 102503.