More than any other developed country, New Zealand's economy, people and environment depend on the success of land-based industries. The agriculture industry is at the core of New Zealand's economy and is a major determinant of employment and social wellbeing.1 Rural communities and in particular farmers and their families, are at the heart of this industry. Maintaining their health and wellbeing (including their mental health) will help farmers and their families cope during difficult times.
The purpose of this report is to provide the Farmers’ Mental Wellbeing Stakeholder Group and the ACC Workplace Injury Prevention Team with a literature review that will build on and inform their knowledge and work in this area. The literature identified through the review is grouped into two sections:
- Part 1 looks at farmers’ mental health including risk and protective factors, barriers to accessing support, and enablers to reducing stress
- Part 2 focuses on prevention and early intervention and provides a summary of the many strategies and programmes aimed at improving farmers’ mental health. This section also covers warning signs and symptoms, coping strategies, and how to help those in need.
Key Results
The prevalence of farmer suicide and mental illness featured in the literature with much discussion about the wide range of associated risk factors. While many prevention and early intervention strategies and programmes were identified, only a small number had been evaluated.
Farmer suicide - The review found evidence to suggest that:
- the high rate of farmer suicide (compared to the general population) is an international problem spanning several countries
- farmer suicide appears to be higher than other occupations in countries where events such as disease and drought have occurred
- Influencing factors for suicide include uncontrollable events, mental illness and seasons relating to peak work periods and mental illness
- some farmers had ended their life even though they had accessed services and it was noted that the services provided may not have been appropriate.
Farmer mental illness -
- there were mixed findings in the literature regarding the prevalence of mental illness among farmers - some authors found no conclusive data while others found an increased prevalence in English, Welsh and Norwegian farmers compared to non-farmers
- risk factors ranged from those beyond farmers’ control such as weather, disease, and government regulations, to those more within their control such as managing workloads, finances and their physical health
- two key concepts emerged from the literature:
– a causal pathway of multiple risk factors leading to mental illness
– a continuum of risk factors from global uncontrollable factors to more controllable factors at the farm and farmer levels
Farmers’ mental health: A review of the literature, Alison Goffin, ACC Policy Team, 2014. 4
- farmers were found to have lower rates of accessing mental health services compared to other occupational groups, with symptoms possibly going unnoticed by health professionals
- mental health services alone are unable to address all of the factors and a collaborative approach is needed.
Barriers and enablers -
- barriers included a lack of confidence in services and/or being worried about confidentiality
- enablers included controlling events than can later cause stress by planning ahead and promoting positive attitudes by setting realistic goals and shifting from worrying to problem solving.
Prevention and early intervention -
- a wide range of strategies and programmes were identified and some had been evaluated
- a key theme was the use of a multi agency – multi strategy approach
- other key themes were warning signs and symptoms, coping strategies, and how to help those in need.