Mental health survey available for Alta. farmers

The responses will help ensure programming addresses current needs

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

An ag mental health organization in Alberta is asking farmers to participate in an online survey.

AgKnow wants producers to take the survey for three reasons:

• The responses ensure mental health programs align with the realities of Alberta farms,
• The responses help create resources that resonate with daily challenges, and
• The survey helps foster a supportive mental health environment across agriculture.

“As mental health programs begin to roll out across Canada, your voice becomes crucial in shaping these initiatives,” the organization’s website says.

The survey consists of nine questions.

They include identifying if someone in an individual household has participated in mental health counselling, how important an individual feels it is to have access to counsellors who understand agriculture and identifying barriers to receiving mental health support.

Participants can also choose to print a copy of their answers after the survey.

This survey follows results from a national questionnaire in 2021.

Those results found that 76 per cent of farmers were experiencing moderate or high stress, Canadian farmers had higher alcohol use scores than scale norms and that about one in four farmers felt their life was not worth living.

Farms.com has compiled a list of mental health resources for anyone requiring support.

If someone requires immediate assistance, Canada recently implemented 9-8-8 as its national mental health support helpline.