Tough Enough To Talk About It is a comprehensive mental health program created specifically for Trades, Industry, and Agriculture. Tough Enough recognizes the unique nature, risks and rewards of these demanding sectors and their impact on mental health and well-being.
The innovative, facilitated presentations and program content is designed to equip employees at all levels with tools to create a safer workplace, and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace
OBJECTIVES
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Tough Enough To Talk About It aims to foster a workplace culture of support that reduces the stigma surrounding mental health.
2. Though cultivating an environment that encourages open dialogue and intervention, Tough Enough creates a resilient network of support within the workplace, ultimately contributing to a workplace where every member feels valued, understood, and, most importantly, connected.
3. Results from an independent program 2023 evaluation indicated that 67% of program participants believe that all employees and contractors are responsible for a psychologically healthy workplace and 83% responded that a healthy and safe workplace includes supporting both mental and physical health.
4. Increase participant knowledge of and access too Provincial, National, and local resources. (Early Intervention and Treatment)
WHY FOCUS ON TRADES, INDUSTRY & AGRICULTURE?
Historically males have been the primary gender employed in the targeted sector(s). Men are at greater risk for death by suicide in Alberta (Alberta Mental Health Board, 2006). In general, more males die by suicide each year as compared to females. Since 1981, males are three to four times more likely to die by suicide than females. (Alberta Mental Health Board, 2007)
Tough Enough was created with an understanding of the critical role that peer support plays in mental health and designed to empower workers to actively contribute to the well-being of their colleagues. Recognizing that individuals within a workplace community often serve as frontline responders to signs of distress, Tough Enough emphasizes education, empathy, and communication skills to equip employees with the tools needed to recognize and respond to mental health challenges in their peers.
The re-branding from Men at Risk to Tough Enough To Talk About It (2016) serves as an acknowledgment that there is a vastly increasing amount of females employed and/or impacted by trades, industry, and agriculture sectors, however we continue to highlight how a male may experience a decline in their mental well being in congruence with current provincial and national suicide statistics. These trends and statistics are monitored on a yearly basis by the Resource Centre for Suicide Prevention.
“I came here looking for insight into why my brother took his own life without showing any signs or reaching out. I think I might get it now. Also realize I need help too. Thanks.”
“Thanks again for this course, it has given me some new tools and new ways to ask the question, check in with workers and I really feel this is a big step in the right direction for us tough burly men to stop trying to be so "tough" and be "tough enough to talk about it."
“Continued conversations like this are really going to help us normalize talking about how we are feeling and feel empowered to ask questions of each other when we notice people’s actions are out of the ordinary”
“A lot of the information resonated with me, it definitely helped to raise personal awareness and I will be more tuned in to recognizing my own internal biases and managing my own mental health.”
