Understanding and addressing psychological distress experienced by farmers, from the perspective of rural financial counsellors

Abstract

Objective: To explore rural financial counsellors' experiences interacting with psychologically distressed farmers and identify contextually appropriate methods to maintain their own well-being and link farmers to psychological supports, within their existing roles.Setting: Rural, regional and remote Australia.Participants: Fifty rural financial counsellors participated. They worked across 6 Australian states/territories. Design: Individual semi-structured telephone interviews were audio-recorded with consent. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes were identified using an essentialist, bottom-up approach.Results: Forty-six themes emerged relating to the 5 topics explored: (a) how to recognise distress in farmers (eg inability to focus/make decisions, deterioration in presentation/organisation, anger, blaming); (b) impact of farmers' psychological distress on the financial case management process (eg slows, disrupts or stops it, negatively impacts counsellor well-being); (c) strategies for working effectively with distressed farmers (eg flexibility, open-ended questions, listening to story, simplicity, instilling hope); (d) referral of distressed farmers to psychological support (eg willing if tried themselves/positive reports, lack of local rural faceto-face services, stigma and lack of understanding of importance challenging, a farming focus and support from family/ community assists); and (e) strategies to maintain their own well-being (eg compartmentalising, exercise, supervision). Conclusion:Rural financial counsellors play an important role by recognising signs of distress in farmers and referring them to appropriate psychological supports. However, this is a demanding role and ensuring counsellors have appropriate services to refer farmers to, and support with their own well-being, is imperative.

Co‐designing a peer‐led model of delivering behavioural activation for people living with depression or low mood in Australian farming communities

“…More specifically for farming communities, recent research has highlighted the importance of professional supervision to facilitate the sustainability of rural financial counsellors' in working with distressed farmers. 41 However, the unique delivery mode (peer-led) of the proposed model of mental health support is unexplored in the rural context. Some insights from this study appear to contrast with traditional anecdotal notions that farmers are resistant to 'red tape', governance and rules.…”

“…This review also acknowledged gaps in existing knowledge relating to how such a framework of supervision could be achieved. More specifically for farming communities, recent research has highlighted the importance of professional supervision to facilitate the sustainability of rural financial counsellors' in working with distressed farmers 41 . However, the unique delivery mode (peer‐led) of the proposed model of mental health support is unexplored in the rural context.…”

A ‘Vocal Locals’ social network campaign is associated with increased frequency of conversations about mental health and improved engagement in wellbeing-promoting activities in an Australian farming community

“…This places professionals who work with farmers in a unique position to offer emotional support and provide relevant information and referrals. Agricultural extension advisors and rural financial counsellors are respected and accessible professionals who are trusted by farmers and who report that they are already offering this kind of support within their current role [ 49 , 50 ]. Providing spaces where farmers can hear people in their community share their own mental health struggles, and their positive experiences of seeking mental health support, could also help to challenge stigma around help-seeking and normalise conversations of this nature [ 27 ].…”