Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Extension Mental Health Specialist, College of Education and Human Sciences, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, USA.
J Agromedicine. 2022 Jan;27(1):15-24. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2021.1893881. Epub 2021 Feb 28.
In this study, we seek to illuminate: (1) the ways farm service providers and mental health professionals understand the drivers of farm stress, (2) the strategies, challenges, and opportunities farm service providers and mental health professionals identify for supporting the mental health needs of farm families, and; (3) opportunities for future research and outreach to improve the mental health of farmers in the U.S. Midwest region. We obtained qualitative data from a series of semi-structured key informant interviews with 19 subject matter experts, using content analysis to identify themes across four domains: main challenges, unique impacts by subpopulation, coping strategies, and interventions and recommendations. The key informants we interviewed identified a variety of acute and chronic stressors, including several that are structural, rather than individual and interpersonal, and which lie outside of the control of farmers themselves. They also highlighted diversity within farm populations by socio-demographic and farm characteristics as well as positive and negative coping strategies, with negative being more common. For interventions and recommendations, they stressed the importance of education on mental health, improving access to care, and addressing root causes of stress. While farmer stress is well-documented, less is known about the perspectives of farm service professionals and mental health providers who care for them. The insights from this study add important information on how to best support the immediate and long-term mental health needs of farmers and farm families in the U.S. Midwest and beyond.
在这项研究中，我们旨在阐明：（1）农场服务提供商和心理健康专业人员理解农场压力驱动因素的方式；（2）农场服务提供商和心理健康专业人员确定的支持农场家庭心理健康需求的策略、挑战和机遇；以及（3）未来研究和外展的机会，以改善美国中西部地区农民的心理健康。我们从与 19 名主题专家的一系列半结构化关键知情人访谈中获得了定性数据，使用内容分析在四个领域中识别主题：主要挑战、特定人群的独特影响、应对策略以及干预措施和建议。我们采访的知情人确定了各种急性和慢性压力源，包括一些结构性的、而不是个体和人际的、并且超出了农民自身控制的压力源。他们还强调了农场人口在社会人口和农场特征方面的多样性，以及积极和消极的应对策略，消极策略更为常见。对于干预措施和建议，他们强调了心理健康教育、改善护理机会以及解决压力根源的重要性。虽然农民压力已经得到充分记录，但对于关心他们的农场服务专业人员和心理健康提供者的观点了解较少。本研究的观点增加了有关如何最好地满足美国中西部地区乃至其他地区农民和农场家庭的当前和长期心理健康需求的重要信息。
