O'Meara Peter
Department of Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Aust J Rural Health. 2019 Aug;27(4):281-289. doi: 10.1111/ajr.12543.
To review and synthesise research related to the ageing farming workforce influence on the health and sustainability of agricultural communities.
Using the PRISMA framework as a guide, the CINHAL and Medline databases were searched. Search 1 used the key search terms of ageing OR aging, farm*, workforce. Search 2 used health, sustainability and 'agricultural OR farm communit*. Search 3 combined Searches 1 and 2. Search 4 followed journal citations to identify other relevant articles. A process of narrative synthesis was applied to the results through the prism of rural social capital that described the current state of knowledge and understanding under four themes.
Database searches and searching of citations identified 16 contemporary articles. Seven of the papers were from Australia, and the balance from five other high-income countries. The four that themes emerged are: vulnerabilities of ageing farmers; economic and climatic drivers; social capital and sustainability; and integrative strategies, that might offer a way forward.
Integrating these forces of nature, economics and sociology to address the ageing farming workforce and the associated health and sustainability of agricultural communities remains a major challenge for researchers, governments, the agricultural sector and rural communities.
回顾并综合与老龄化农业劳动力对农业社区健康和可持续性影响相关的研究。
以PRISMA框架为指导，检索了CINHAL和Medline数据库。搜索1使用了老龄化（ageing或aging）、农场*、劳动力等关键搜索词。搜索2使用了健康、可持续性以及“农业或农场社区*”。搜索3将搜索1和搜索2进行了合并。搜索4追踪期刊引用以识别其他相关文章。通过农村社会资本这一视角，对结果应用了叙述性综合方法，该方法在四个主题下描述了当前的知识状态和理解情况。
数据库搜索和引用搜索共识别出16篇当代文章。其中7篇论文来自澳大利亚，其余来自其他五个高收入国家。出现的四个主题分别是：老龄化农民的脆弱性；经济和气候驱动因素；社会资本与可持续性；以及综合策略，这些策略可能提供前进的方向。
整合自然、经济和社会等因素，以应对老龄化农业劳动力以及农业社区相关的健康和可持续性问题，对研究人员、政府、农业部门和农村社区而言仍是一项重大挑战。
