Abstract
The suicide rate of farmers is approximately double that of the general Australian population, yet farmers employ fewer help-seeking behaviours (Arnautovska et al. in Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49:593–599, 2014; Brew et al. in BMC Public Health 16:1–11, 2016). Therefore, it is crucial to understand if, and how health services and system might influence farmer help-seeking. To shed light on this, the current study employed qualitative semi-structured interviews with 10 farmers, 10 farmers’ partners and 8 medical practitioners. Thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke’s (Qual Res Psychol 3:77–101, 2006) techniques, was used to analyse the data. Three themes were devised concerning the interaction between farmers and health services, including ‘health service interactions’, ‘services are provided within a complex system’ and ‘emerging technologies: the users, practitioners, and systems’. The findings underscore the importance of interactions between a farmer and a service provider, with farmers wanting their provider to have an understanding of farming life. Help-seeking was also shaped by access, availability, and practitioner constancy. Lastly, a complex relationship between digital mental health services and farmer help-seeking was reported, with factors related to the farmers, the practitioners and the infrastructure/systems discussed. The outcomes have implications for health service and policy reform, developing and providing interventions for farmers to promote health services interaction as a way of mental health help-seeking.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the organisations that provided assistance with recruitment of participants. Further, we appreciate the effort of the farmers, farmers’ partners and General Practitioners that participated in the interviews.
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Caitlin Vayro acknowledges the support of the Australian Commonwealth Government for her place in the Research Training Scheme, and her receipt of a Research Training Program Scholarship.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Caitlin Vayro and Charlotte Brownlow. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Caitlin Vayro, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. This research follows the COREQ guidelines for reporting qualitative research.
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Vayro, C., Brownlow, C., Ireland, M. et al. “Don’t … Break Down on Tuesday Because the Mental Health Services are Only in Town on Thursday”: A Qualitative Study of Service Provision Related Barriers to, and Facilitators of Farmers’ Mental Health Help-Seeking. Adm Policy Ment Health 48, 514–527 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01085-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01085-4