Supporting farmers’ mental health.
Prince Edward County, in partnership with Agriculture Wellness Ontario, is hosting two one-day mental health training sessions next week.
The free workshops, being held December 11 at North Marysburgh Town Hall and December 12 at Ameliasburgh Town Hall (both 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), are being offered by the Guardian Network, a division of Agriculture Wellness Ontario.
“The University of Guelph released a study in 2016 and they updated the study in 2021 and the study indicated that one in four farmers experienced suicide ideation.”
Other research has found that nearly 70 per cent of farmers are more susceptible than the general population to chronic stress which can lead to physical and mental illness.
Furthermore, 58 per cent of farmers meet the classification for anxiety while 45 per cent report high stress and 35 per cent meet the classification for depression.
Parkinson says the training is open to anyone over the age of 18 including farmers, their families, those who work in agriculture or interact with farmers on a regular basis.
“It’s suicide prevention training. It’s not only that. It does provide a context and background surrounding mental health. We do a lot of stigma, working though stigma, working through biases. And then I also teach folks some basic counselling skills and techniques. How to connect with farmers. We go through some distressors and risks that farmers may experience in their work and with their mental health. And then how to connect farmers to resources to best support their mental health.”
“I go through a new mental health skill each month. So it’s a continuous learning opportunity. It’s really important for folks who work or live in agriculture or really want to promote mental health and healthy well-being among farmers so, it’s a really great opportunity following the training.”
Register for the December 11 and 12 sessions via this link https://bit.ly/3QgXAfD.
Click here to learn more about the Guardian Network.
