A running survey by University College Dublin (UCD) will be used to understand more about factors impacting farmer’s mental health.
Data from the research will then be used to inform the development of future interventions for well-being and distress, along with developing researchers understanding of what support is needed.
The survey is ran by a psychology masters student, Mark Creegan, in collaboration with members from the UCD Agri Mental Health Group: Prof. Louise McHugh; Dr. Alison Stapleton; and Dr. Tomás Russell.
The anonymous survey is open to anyone over 18, who is based in Ireland and currently works on a farm.
This includes occasional farm workers, farm-holders, children/spouses of farm holders, etc.
Participants are asked to respond to an online or paper-based questionnaire, which takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, and is based on well-being, distress, suicide, social support, farm stress, and coping.
It includes questions based on farmers’ estimated average yearly farm income in euros and the estimated average hours worked per day.
If completing the online survey, a laptop, tablet, or computer is recommended. If completing the paper-based version, a standard black ball point pen is recommended.
The survey can be found here: Exploring the Mental Health of Farmers in Ireland (google.com)
Mental health support
For mental health support, UCD recommended that farmers can contact Pieta House or get in touch with area mental health representatives from the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), which can be found online.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) funded Farming Minds project is also working to develop evidence-based interventions that go beyond signposting to support the development of key psychological skills.
The project is a collaboration between UCD Agri Mental Health Group and the South East Technical University (SETU) and HSE funded ‘On Feirm Ground’.
The project will develop and test the feasibility and effectiveness of a scalable psychological intervention for farmers to target key areas in terms of prevention and early intervention.