An evaluation of the farmer health and wellbeing initiative ‘On Feirm Ground 1’ has been launched by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with responsibility for farm safety, Martin Heydon.
Alongside Minister Heydon, Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke was also in attendance for the launch of the final evaluation report.
The report aims to equip agricultural professionals and service providers with the “awareness, capacity and confidence” to identify “at-risk farmers” and direct them to relevant support services.
The first phase focused on training farm advisors between October 2021 to April 2022.
The final report is an overview of the challenges and lessons learned during the initial roll-out, and the recommendations that informed the development of the follow up programme ‘On Feirm Ground 2’.
Minister Heydon said:
“Farmers in Ireland experience a range of work-related challenges that place them at increased risk of poor physical and mental health and can be hard to engage on health issues.
“On Feirm Ground has demonstrated that giving farm advisors and others who work with farmers the skills to spot the signs of poor wellbeing signs can help bridge that gap.”
The innovative programme sets a “good example” of Ireland in action and shows that educating people on this matter and how to respond helps to achieve positive outcomes, according to Minister Burke.
Heydon added that he is “delighted” to be able to fund the expansion of this programme to other agricultural professionals and service providers within the wider agricultural sector who work with farmers, such as vets, veterinary nurses and farming representatives.
Men’s Development Network (MDN) director of services Colm Kelly Ryan said that the network is delighted to work with the programme and “strong partnerships” made the programme possible.
The On Feirm Ground programme was developed by the Engage National Men’s Health Training Programme and is overseen by a an advisory group chaired by project managers, MDN.
The collaboration is co-funded by DAFM, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE), with the initial research funded by South East Technological University (SETU), and the Teagasc Walsh Scholarship Programme.