Joseph Firnhaber, Sandra M. Malone, Anna Donnla O'Hagan, Sinead O'Keefe, John McNamara, S. O’Connor
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Farmers face significant mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Additionally, rural populations widely endorse stoic values which can be a barrier to farmers’ help‐seeking. In this study, we identified sociocultural barriers and facilitators to Irish farmers’ mental health help‐seeking. We conducted 17 semi‐structured interviews with Irish farmers and three focus groups and one interview with farming stakeholders in Ireland online. Interviews and focus groups followed a conversational, semi‐structured schedule concerning Irish farmers’ help‐seeking beliefs and behaviours, and were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. We identified three central barriers to farmers’ help‐seeking: resilience, pride in being a ‘good farmer’ and help‐seeking stigma. We also identified one central barrier/facilitator: slowly increasing mental health awareness. Across all themes, participants described Irish farmers of all genders, particularly older men, as suffering from a self‐reliant cycle of masculine stoicism. Our findings add to the growing ‘good farmer’ literature by illustrating how farmers’ health practices can be both a source of social capital and a detriment to their own health and help‐seeking.
期刊介绍:
Sociologia Ruralis reflects the diversity of European social-science research on rural areas and related issues. The complexity and diversity of rural problems require multi and interdisciplinary approaches. Over the past 40 years Sociologia Ruralis has been an international forum for social scientists engaged in a wide variety of disciplines focusing on social, political and cultural aspects of rural development. Sociologia Ruralis covers a wide range of subjects, ranging from farming, natural resources and food systems to rural communities, rural identities and the restructuring of rurality.