Centre for Rural Policy Research (CRPR), University of Exeter, Lazenby House, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PJ, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Aug 20;22(1):1581. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13958-4.
Certain physical and mental health issues are particularly prevalent in farming occupations, yet frequently, farmers, particularly males, are resistant to seeking help from primary care practitioners. A qualitative approach examined the perspective of stakeholders at livestock auction marts to identify the determinants for, or barriers to, seeking help, perceptions regarding basing primary care services on-site at livestock auction marts, and the role of a site-based approach, i.e. placing primary healthcare services within a traditional farmers' meeting place, in facilitating changes in help-seeking beliefs and behaviors. Findings support previous studies regarding barriers to seeking help, but demonstrate that by deconstructing these barriers through specifically designed workplace/site-oriented support services, more positive behaviors are facilitated. The study highlights how collaboration between livestock auction marts and primary healthcare services allows access to a hard-to-reach demographic in terms of healthcare, and illustrates how such socially integrative opportunities can contribute to the improvement of the mental and physical health and wellbeing of the agricultural community.
某些身心健康问题在农业职业中尤为普遍，但农民，尤其是男性，往往不愿意向初级保健医生寻求帮助。本研究采用定性方法，从牲畜拍卖市场利益相关者的角度出发，探讨寻求帮助的决定因素或障碍，了解他们对于在牲畜拍卖市场设立初级保健服务的看法，以及基于现场的方法（即将初级医疗保健服务设置在传统的农民聚会场所内）在促进寻求帮助的信念和行为变化方面的作用。研究结果支持了先前关于寻求帮助障碍的研究，但也表明，通过通过专门设计的面向工作场所/现场的支持服务来解构这些障碍，可以促进更积极的行为。本研究强调了牲畜拍卖市场与初级保健服务之间的合作如何能够为难以获得医疗保健的人群提供服务，并说明了这种社交融合机会如何有助于改善农业社区的身心健康和幸福感。
