Farmers are often hailed for being strong both mentally and physically. Co-Founder of Do More Ag, Kim Keller believes that the “tough and rough” stereotype often becomes a barrier that agricultural producers face in reaching out for help.
Do More Ag is a non-profit organization that was launched in hopes of bettering farmers’ mental health. From opening up the conversation, fighting stigmas and giving communities the tangible skills to better mental health in their communities.
“We decided to launch Do More Ag because we felt that there needed to be a focus on mental health in ag for many years to come. And, we really wanted to change the culture in agriculture to one where all producers we encouraged and supported in taking care of their mental well-being,” says Co-Founder, Kim Keller.
Keller adds that there are three main barriers in farmers reaching out for mental health care. “First is the current culture in agriculture, which really contributes to the stigma around mental health. So, the idea that these farmers are tough and rough and don’t need any help or support. Second, is just the lack of awareness and understanding about what mental health is what it means to be truly healthy. And third, is just the isolation that we all deal with because we all live in remote areas and we also spend a lot of time on our own.”
Keller adds that although agricultural producers face different barriers than non-ag people, they face the same issues as everyone else. “I think that mental health is something that affects everyone. So it’s not to say that producers face different mental health, or different mental health issues or mental illness. It’s just that there are some unique areas in the industry that requires specialized services. For example, as an industry we rely on the weather and that is out of our control; so when we’re seeking professional resources we really need to be talking to someone that really understands how that impacts us, how that can impact our bottom line, and how that can impact our families as well. Also understanding our schedules that we all work as farmers and it’s not the normal 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, instead we have a very unpredictable schedule that we don’t necessarily control.”
Do More Ag was launched on January 30, 2018. Since then, Keller says Do More Ag has made a large impact on the agricultural community. “We have achieved far more in changing the conversation and changing the attitude around mental health then we ever thought we could in the first year. We wanted to make sure that mental health was a conversation that was happening at as many farm shows that we could be at. As it turns out, there is not a farm show that I know of where mental health is not a focus. It’s pretty incredible that we’ve come that far in less than a year.”
In addition to opening up the conversation, Do More Ag has chosen 11 communities across Canada to participate in the Community Fund for Mental Health First Aid. The pilot project is funding mental health first aid within those communities. “The chosen communities will be receiving training, and all the materials free of costs. What we want to do is to really start building that capacity, that knowledge and those skills within these communities so we can start building mental health beyond a conversation and actually putting action behind it.” Keller adds that the pilot project is much like first aid training, with the addition of mental health training. “They will learn signs and symptoms of different mental health issues or mental illness, how to respond in a crisis and how to ensure that they’re also taking care of their own well-being while supporting others as well.”
For more information on Do More Ag, you can go to www.domore.ag.
