Health and wellness preparedness

Table of contents

1. Encouraging farmers to practice self-care
2. Introduction
3. Stress mitigation resources for farmers
4. If you need immediate help
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography

Encouraging farmers to practice self-care

Introduction

Recovering from the effects of disaster can seem overwhelming. Recovery does not happen overnight, it is a journey that will take some time. For some with minimal impacts the journey may be relatively short, while for others it may be a long and winding road that takes several years.

Owning a farm business in general can be very stressful. If you are struggling with the impact of these stresses, you are not alone.

The government of British Columbia cares about the well-being of producers and processors, workers, and their families and recognizes that they face unique challenges that can lead to health and wellness issues.

There is help out there whenever it is needed. Reach out to a friend or use an anonymous service to share your experience and feelings with people who care. You matter, and you're important. We're all in this together.

This guide has been adapted from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ “Mental Health for Farmers – First Aid Kit”.

Stress mitigation resources for farmers

Resources available to farmers and their families to help reduce stress and improve their well-being:

• Stress
• Financial stress
• Animal welfare
• Health and wellness

Stress

Stress is the body's response to a real or perceived threat. The purpose of that response is to ready the body for a reaction to the situation; whether it is facing it head-on or fleeing. This “fight or flight” response is commonly experienced when we encounter stress that our body perceives as requiring immediate action.

Some stress can be a good thing. It can motivate us to focus on a task or take action and solve a problem. In this situation, stress is manageable and can even be helpful.

When stress is unhelpful, people may feel overwhelmed or feel like they can't possibly fix the problem. It can be very hard to concentrate, make decisions, and feel confident when the amount or intensity of stress reaches an unmanageable level.

Working in the agricultural industry can be both rewarding and stressful. Farm workers and processors have a unique bond to their work which can make it difficult to identify and manage stress and accommodate the necessary self-care.

These information sheets outline resources that are available to producers and processors that may help them manage stress. If you would like more information on the signs of stress and strategies to deal with stress please visit:

• Identifying and Managing Stress: A Business Owner's Guide
• Difficult Times: Stress on the Farm
• AgSafe: Mental Wellness Information and Dashboard

Financial stress

Financial stress can affect any business in any sector.

The agriculture sector is unique in that there are many factors outside the business owner’s control such as extreme weather events, crop losses, animal disease, or declining market prices. Despite best efforts to mitigate these risks, they can cause significant financial stress for workers and their families.

Programs are available to support farmers and food processors to start, grow and innovate their business and more effectively market their products: Agriculture and seafood programs - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)

AgriShield is a comprehensive risk assessment and mitigation platform for Canadian farmers developed under the leadership of Farm Management Canada. This tool can help you identify and assess risks, create an action plan, and access resources and tools to help manage risks.

The BC Wildfire Recovery for Agriculture guide is a disaster recovery workbook containing steps for the process of disaster recovery. While wildfire specific, this guide has many tips and resources that apply to a wide range of disasters.

Animal welfare

Caring for animals are 24/7 responsibilities. When you are under stress, sometimes it can be difficult to manage all of the day-to-day farm activities, including providing adequate care for your livestock

Animal Health Emergency Management (AHEM) provides a variety of animal welfare resources, protocols, and training. They provide and animal health emergency workbook that applies to several kinds of disaster emergencies.

 Health and wellness

Good mental health is a positive sense of well-being, and  the capacity to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face.

Over the course of any person's life it is highly likely that they will experience depression or other mental wellness issues themselves or have close contact with someone who does. In Canada, one person in five will experience a period of significant mental unwellness in their lifetime. The two most common mental health problems are depression and anxiety.

Stressors (negative or positive) such as job loss, death of a loved one, decline in health, divorce or a new relationship may all cause distress for a person. One will often have reactions that are considered normal or reasonable according to the situation. These can become more serious  when the length, intensity, or effect they have on the person's life are considerable and prolonged.

Conclusion

Stress is inevitable, especially if you work in an often volatile and unpredictable industry such as agriculture. Effective management of stress and its impacts on mental health are important considerations for farm families as they can negatively impact individuals, families, businesses, and communities.

The resources outlined above are provided as information to help farmers, farm workers and their families better understand what resources are available to help reduce stress and improve their well-being.

Bibliography

Canadian Mental Health Association. (2017). Stress. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from Canadian Mental Health Association

Mental Health Commission of Canada. (2017). Mental Health First Aid. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from Mental Health Commission of Canada

Agsafe Mental Health Crisis Resources (PDF, 675 KB)

Wellness Together - B.C. fire and flood resources 

AgSafe and CMHA BC team up for mental health awareness for agriculture sector