Objective: Despite continued higher rates of workplace injuries, earlier morbidity and mortality and challenging climatic environments, few formal programs focus on the health, well-being and safety of farmers. The agricultural health and medicine unit, developed in 2010, was designed to increase cultural competence and empower rural professionals to improve the health, well-being and safety outcomes of farming populations in Australia. This study aimed to understand the extent to which graduates (2010-2018) use the knowledge and skills gained in their current occupations and identify barriers and enablers faced in implementing them.
Design: Mixed-methods descriptive study.
Setting: Graduates were invited to complete an online survey. Following the survey, graduates participated in a phone interview until saturation was reached.
Participants: Forty-one graduates completed the survey (31% response rate), and eleven interviews were conducted.
Interventions: Education in agricultural health and medicine.
Main outcome measures: Graduates use of knowledge and skills gained from the course and the barriers and enablers they experienced in implementation.
Results: The most represented occupations were nursing, medicine and agriculture (farming). Of respondents, 76% agreed their ability to diagnose, treat or prevent agricultural occupational illness or injury had improved. Positively, 42% use course content professionally at least weekly. Fifty-one per cent experienced barriers in implementing their new knowledge, and little evidence of career advancement was observed.
Conclusion: This study informs the continuous development of the agricultural health and medicine curriculum and highlights the importance of a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to improving the health, well-being and safety of farming populations. Despite engaged graduates, the continued high workplace mortality, preventable non-communicable disease and challenging climatic conditions highlight the need for strategic prioritisation of farmers' health across health, agriculture and policy settings.
Keywords: cultural competency; farms; occupational health; rural health; rural population.
© 2020 National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.