STAFF – Awareness of the Saskatchewan Farmers with Disabilities Program may have been affected by the province’s health reform, says the wife of a disabled farmer.
Staff of the 30 district health boards may not all be knowledgeable about the program or the support it offers newly injured farmers and their families, said Janet Bedel.
With each health district on its own, they may not see the need to have long-term programs for farmers with disabilities, she said.
“Our health district may eliminate programs … because we’ve had a lot of fatalities” and there are no survivors to request assistance, Bedel said.
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In responding to Bedel’s concern, Lois Borden of the provincial health department said the department is starting to set up provincial guidelines to ensure there is no slippage of health services or performance between district boards.
Annual review
“When we get the measures we’ll look at it every year,” she told the Farmers with Disabilities conference last week.
Borden said the workload on district staff has been heavy and there is no training for them on how to react to all the changes and new responsibilities.
“Everyone’s got new jobs and are having to learn new things.”
Bedel said that means members of the Farmers with Disabilities program will have to spread information to their districts to let them know help is available.
