Mental wellness network for agriculture community launched
The Farmer and Rancher Mental Health (FARMh) Initiative has launched a mental wellness network along with a virtual toolbox full of mental health resources for the agriculture community.
The program was initially launched in 2021 with a research team who collected data from over 100 producers about effective mental supports.
The information gathered during phase one of the program was used to launch the SaskAgMatters Network.
Phase two of the project was launched and focuses on a virtual toolbox that the agriculture community can use.
Dr. Michelle Pavloff is the research chair of rural health at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and she said the toolbox would contain a range of resources.
“Whether that is suicide intervention strategies, help for addictions, and free counselling services,” Pavloff said. “What we are doing is looking at filling the drawers of that toolbox and evaluating them to find out if they are meeting the needs of the producers.”
The toolbox will be incorporated into the SaskAgMatters Network. The network already offers free mental health services for producers.
“They can go to www.SaskAgMatters.ca and have access to six free one hour counselling sessions for themselves and their families,” Pavloff said.
Will Banford and his family are cattle ranchers in Eastend, Sask. They donated a heifer to SaskAgMatters at the start of the pandemic to help kickstart the program.
“In the farming community, there is a huge stigma,” Banford said. “You have to be tough and not talk about things.”
With the donation, SaskAgMatters Network was able to provide producers free counselling sessions.
“It is a good feeling that our family wanted to help try and break the stigma,” Banford said. “[Producers] are some of the best people out there but they have a lot of stuff that is built up but they don’t talk about it.”
Phase two is expected to end in 2025 with phase 3 focusing on evaluating the network and toolbox and making adjustments and altering resources as needed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.