Investigating the Impact of Language Barriers on Mental Health of Chinese Migrant Construction Workers in New Zealand

Jiadong Wang¹, Funmilayo Ebun Rotimi¹

1. Auckland University of Technology

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 1076 to 1084. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_103.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of language barriers on the mental health of Chinese migrant construction workers and the gap between their actual mental health needs and the existing mental health support in New Zealand. This research undertook a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of scholarly articles published between 2013 and 2023, culminating in a total of 25 papers. Furthermore, the study employed semi-structured interviews to validate the results from the SLR. The study found that there are diverse factors affecting immigrants’ search for mental health help, such as social stigma, cultural beliefs, and cognitive deficits. Also, language barriers are the most prevalent and widespread barriers that significantly affect the effectiveness of mental health support. Language barriers have a detrimental impact not only on the mental health of the workers themselves but also on their inclination to seek mental health assistance. This paper highlights the need to protect the mental health of Chinese migrant construction workers in order to improve their well-being and promote the growth of the construction industry.

Keywords

Session

Presented in Track M, Saturday 9 November 2024, 16:15 to 18:15, room WA 224 A, Auckland University of Technology. Session chair Dr Esther Aigwi.

How to Cite

Wang, J., & Rotimi, F. E. (2025). Investigating the Impact of Language Barriers on Mental Health of Chinese Migrant Construction Workers in New Zealand. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 1076–1084). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_103

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.