Developing Practice Standards to Target Mental Health Disparities Among the Farming Population

Abstract

Mental health is a rising concern among farmers in the United States. Situational stressors related to the nature of their work are often responsible for some of the mental health disparities that currently exist. Situational stressors include changes with the weather, financial strains, issues with family dynamics and more. Detecting mental health disparities among farmers is imperative to their sustainment. A quality improvement project was created to target mental health disparities among farmers using a virtual mental health self-assessment named the Farm Stress Screener. The project was created to raise awareness and provide resources that are currently available through an organization that focuses on the health of farmers and other associated occupations. The theoretical framework that was utilized was the Stress, Coping, and Adaptation Theory that was developed by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman. The Farm Stress Screener was sent by email to a list-serve of over 200 participants who were affiliated with the partner site asking for their participation in the project. Over the 12-week implementation period, there were a total of 20 participants, with eight participants screening positive. A positive screen identifies a participant as being potentially at-risk for a mental health concern and required a follow-up phone call from the site partner’s nurse. Overall, the Farm Stress Screener was useful in identifying mental health related concerns among the farming population and raised awareness of resources that are currently available through the partner site.