Against a backdrop of rapid upheaval in agriculture, volatile commodity markets, rising input costs and demands to mitigate the impact of climate change, farmers attending the Longford Lamb Producers’ Group meeting in Co. Westmeath on Thursday (August 4) were urged to prioritise their health and well-being to boost resilience.
“Farmers are experiencing a level of uncertainty and upheaval in farming that we have never seen before,” said Laura Tully, nurse and founder of the ‘Fit Farmers’ lifestyle intervention.
Laura provided a health-promotion workshop to members of the group attending the open evening at the farm of Tommy, Patricia and Noel Claffey at Ballinagore.
She pointed out that society has been fractured by a succession of events including the Covid-19 pandemic; Brexit; the war in Ukraine; and the cost-of-living crisis. The resulting upheaval is taking its toll, she warned.
Effect on mental health
“Continuous change is having a huge effect on mental health and resilience levels, particularly on farms where fertiliser, feed, fuel and other key input costs have rocketed,” she said.
“These stressors can have a detrimental impact on farmers’ mental and physical health over time.”
Laura stressed the importance of movement; healthy eating; sleep and stress control for farmers’ well-being.
When it comes to healthy eating for farmers, Laura recommends making simple swaps like including more vegetables, salads and fruit daily; limiting intakes of high fat, sugar and salt; adopting better portion control and avoiding processed or pre-packed food.
Farmers are also encouraged to consider their hydration status and to aim to drink eight small glasses of water daily to boost hydration, energy and digestion.
For health benefits, Laura said that farmers should increase their aerobic activity outside of their work to at least 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity activity, five days a week and focus on muscle strengthening, flexibility and balance three times/week.
Exercise outside the farm
Farmers, Laura said, have become more sedentary over the years.
“Machinery and other vehicles now assist a lot of the physical work and farmers tend to spend a lot more time sitting down, often in the evenings, sitting for long periods in front of the TV or on a phone or device,” she said.
Laura told the group that ‘sitting is considered the new smoking’ when it comes to health implications.
“TV time has been linked to an increase in type 2 diabetes, heart disease and unhealthy dietary choices. So hide that remote control and give yourself no option but to move more during TV time,” she said.
‘The movement mentor’ as she is known on social media, encourages farmers to combat the harmful impacts of sitting by moving more and cajoled all those in attendance on the night to pledge to move their bodies every hour they are awake.
Farmers were told that muscles are the energy factories of the body, controlling the release of hormones and chemicals in the body.
Those in attendance were advised to undertake strength training as a natural anti-inflammatory and antidote to age-related loss of muscle. They were also reminded that they don’t need to go to an expensive gym or dress up to train. Laura guided the group through some exercises that can be done around the farm or at home.
Sleep
She firmly believes that sleep is a superpower when it comes to health, safety and well-being and explained that even short-term sleep deprivation can have a significant negative impact on health and well-being.
Farmers were asked to consider how far they stretch the elastic band of sleep deprivation and the role farmer fatigue plays in the poor personal health profile of farmers, injury and accidents on the farm.
“Research is showing that even with days of recovery, the effects of sleep debt remain which include increased likelihood of being involved in a road traffic accident, poor performance at work and decreased cognitive function,” said Laura.
Studies, she said, have shown that the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life span. She explained how it is easy to get stuck in a stress/sleep cycle where lack of sleep raises cortisol and can in turn interfere with our ability to sleep.
Farmers were advised that it is not possible to bank sleep by having a lie in at the weekends and encouraged to prioritise between seven and nine hours sleep per night.
Laura shared her top tips to improve sleep and talked farmers through her ‘sleep hygiene for farmers’ plan to promote a good sleep.
“These days, news seems to be everywhere. People can be updated about the latest developments in the world during the entire day and seven days a week. News is not only received by television, newspapers, and through online news coverage, but also through social media,” she said.
“Even people who do not follow regular news updates can still be confronted by news events through the people they follow on social media.
“I advise farmers I work with to ration or control their exposure to bad news. I ask farmers to consider what they are watching before bed e.g. news, grief, trauma and ask them to consider if this is really what their brain needs before trying to sleep or unwind?”
Mental health
Farmers were also reminded of the roles adequate physical activity, sleep and healthy eating play in boosting resilience, energy, motivation and promoting positive mental health and controlling stress.
They were encouraged to reach out and engage with additional supports available to them and encouraged to anonymously text ‘hello’ to 50808, a 24/7 free messaging service providing everything from a calming chat to immediate support.
Laura provided signposting information, a range of health promotion leaflets and individual advice to those wishing to speak in confidence. Many farmers expressed their interest in undertaking a ‘Fit Farmers’ programme with her in the winter.
Laura has been providing the ‘Fit Farmers’ health promoting lifestyle intervention to farmers since 2019, aiming to improve the nutrition, strength and well-being of Irish farmers. The programme is usually delivered locally to farmers via a series of expert led workshops and workouts over a six-week period.
To date, supported by Roscommon Sports Partnership, 111 farmers have undertaken Laura’s programme with outstanding results in terms of weight loss, increased strength, improved cardiovascular fitness, increased physical activity as well as positive gains in mental and social health.
‘Fit Farmers’ essentially gives farmers the toolkit they need to look after their own health and well-being, said Laura. She keeps the delivery simple and straightforward and uses a reliable evidence base to impart health information in a practical way.
From showing farmers recommended portion and plate sizes and helping them understand their cholesterol and blood pressure, to taking them on walks in their locality, Laura equips and empowers participants to make healthy swaps, embrace physical activity and sustain changes and improvements in their own health into the future.
Some farmers have had undetected high blood pressure picked up and treated during the programme which is essentially a lifesaving intervention, Laura said.