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Site Authorised by Director of Community Services, Western District Health Service, Hamilton
Sustainable Farm Families Disclaimer Last Updated: 30 May 2006
A major issue facing agricultural industries is the health of the industry’s human resource. Farmers are ageing, working harder, longer and increasingly relying on family members to provide the extra labour needed to cope. Farmers also experience higher injury and earlier illness and death. The SFF research project aims to address the health, well being and safety issues facing the farming industries through an evidence-based program with solid research and intersectoral collaboration.
SFF is a program that is changing:
- Attitudes and behaviour to personal health and safety
- Behaviour of farming families
- Health outcomes for farm families
- Rural health practice through training of health providers
SFF Health Promotion Framework
- Empowers individual knowledge and skills
- Collects physical assessment data and tracks over 3 years
- Strengthens community action
- Uses intersectoral collaboration
- Provides evidence base for farming family health
- Shares knowledge with other health professionals
The Sustainable Farm Families Objectives are:
- Identify and track farming family health indicators for inclusion in Farm Management quality assurance processes.
- Design and deliver a training program that assists farming families to identify strategies to enhance individual, family health and relevant OH&S practices.
- Communicate program findings to farming families and the health and agricultural sectors.
- Provide information on the relationship between family health, health as a social issue in rural communities and farm productivity.
The research data and information collected will provide critical insight to the relationships between farmer health and farming sustainability.
.JPG)
