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Cultivating Resilience: An Agrarian Approach to Suicide Prevention for Rural Minnesota Farmers

Cultivating Resilience: An Agrarian Approach to Suicide Prevention for Rural Minnesota Farmers is a multi-level public health resilience-building intervention aimed at providing information and resources to all levels of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Ecological Model in rural Minnesota farmers and farming communities who are at risk of suicide. (CDC, 2022)

Those that work in agriculture are at a 3.5 times increased risk of suicide (Reed, 2020) and suicide amongst farmers grew from 40% from 2000 to 2020. (Peterson, 2020) Proposed rational for these notable increases can be linked to higher job-related stress, lower resources in rural communities and greater access to firearms and chemicals, which are the most reported means of suicide. (CDC, 2022)

The targeted population for this intervention is rural Minnesota Farmers, who are predominantly Caucasian, Christian males between the ages of 35-75. This population lives in rural Minnesota counties and has a varying income ranging from low in those who provide the manual labor for agriculture to high income for those who own land, own equipment and/or run farming operations. (Sullivan and Peterson, 2015)

The interventions include an Infographic providing suicide prevention resources specifically for rural Minnesota farmers that is targeting both the individual as well as the relationship/interpersonal level of the SEM. (CDC, 2022) Additional a public service announcement is utilized that will be broadcasted and posted by agricultural-specific multimedia networks that are specific to Minnesota. At the societal level, this intervention seeks funding and additional resources to support the dissemination of the invention throughout Minnesota and potentially throughout the nation.

References:

American Public Health Association (APHA). Suicide. 2021. Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/suicide. Laster reviewed 8/3/2022.

Bjornestad, A., Cuthbertson, C., & Hendricks, J. (2021). An analysis of suicide risk factors among farmers in the midwestern united states. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3563. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073563

Booth, N., Briscoe, M., & Powell, R. (2000). Suicide in the farming community: Methods used and contact with health services. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57(9), 642–644. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.9.642

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  FastStats – Suicide and Self-Harm Injury.  Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm.  Last reviewed 7/13/2022.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Social-ecological Model (SEM): A Framework for Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violencepr...ecologicalmodel.html Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Suicide Prevention, 2/25/2022. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/index.html. Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

Cerel, J., Maple, M., van de Venne, J., Moore, M., Flaherty, C., & Brown, M. (2016). Exposure to suicide in the community: Prevalence and correlates in one US State. Public Health Reports, 131(1), 100–107.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). Coping with Farm and Rural Stress. Retrieved from https://www.mda.state.mn.us/about/mnfarmerstress.  Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). Stress and Crisis: Get Help Now. Retrieved from https://www.mda.state.mn.us/ab...rstress/copingstress. Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

Office of Disease prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). History of Healthy People. Retrieved from https://health.gov/our-work/na...story-healthy-people.  Last reviewed 8/3/2021.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Three key challenges facing agriculture and how to start solving them. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/agricultu...riculture-how-solve/. Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

Peterson, C. (2020). Suicide rates by industry and occupation—National violent death reporting system, 32 states, 2016. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6903a1

Reed, D. B., & Claunch, D. T. (2020). Risk for depressive symptoms and suicide among u. S. Primary farmers and family members: A systematic literature review. Workplace Health & Safety, 68(5), 236–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079919888940

Salihu, H. M., Wilson, R. E., King, L. M., Marty, P. J., & Whiteman, V. E. (2015). Socio-ecological model as a framework for overcoming barriers and challenges in randomized control trials in minority and underserved communities. International Journal of MCH and AIDS, 3(1), 85–95.

Sullivan and Peterson. The Minnesota Farmer: Demographic Trends and Relevant Laws. House Research and State Demographic Center. Retrieved from https://www.house.leg.state.mn.../pubs/minnfarmer.pdf  Last reviewed 8/2015.

University of Minnesota (UMN). Coping with rural stress. Retrieved from https://extension.umn.edu/rura...d-resilience-2925460. Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

World Health Organization (WHO). Suicide, 6/17/2021. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/...heets/detail/suicide. Last reviewed 8/3/2022.

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