People who deliver farm stress programs plan to meet at a conference next month to examine how to do the job better.
While sharing ideas and resources, the participants are also looking at how to obtain money from a new federal initiative designed to assist mental health issues.
Marcel Hacault, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, said most mental health practitioners lack farm knowledge.
“The triggers of farm stress are really different from general public stress.”
Hacault said many people have a stigma about asking for help. However, it is “reassuring if you do make that call that you are talking to someone who understands farming.”
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The association doesn’t conduct an annual survey of farm stress options, but Hacault said it has found that the availability of help is variable.
“Manitoba and Saskatchewan have probably the strongest resources for farmers in Canada.”
Ken Imhoff, who heads the Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line, said its stability is based on provincial agriculture department funding, although when the line went into operation Feb. 10, 1992, it wasn’t anticipated that it would be needed for that long.
“It’s unfortunate but it’s just one thing after another in agriculture,” he said.
The 13-year-old Saskatchewan line is the oldest of four in the country.
Imhoff said the Saskatchewan line uses front-line staff and advisers who are or once were farmers. Some staff who left farming after taking the counselling job can speak about “the ambivalence and ambiguities” in the transition, Imhoff said.
He said the training the farm stress line staff receive will be a subject under discussion at the October conference. Training standards and how farm stress professionals can work together are the main points on the agenda, he added.
Funding will be another issue. While Saskatchewan funds its line as a government program and Manitoba’s health department pays a nonprofit group to run its farm stress line, the farm oriented lines in Ontario and Nova Scotia have a precarious existence. The eastern ones depend on government project funding, which means a nearly continual effort to justify their operations.
Imhoff said the Saskatchewan farm stress line, which deals with personal and business issues, urges people to call before their problem becomes a crisis.
The line is confidential and the counsellors non-judgmental. After listening, the counsellor explores options with the caller, followed by offering information and referrals to the agencies that can provide one-on-one support and professional advice.
- Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line toll-free 800-667-4442.
- Manitoba Farm and Rural Stress line toll-free 866-367-3276.
- Alberta Mental Health Help Line toll-free at 877-303-2642.
