Sustainable Farm Families presented at international conference
13 June 2007
The Sustainable Farm Families project which has won National awards for Western District Health Service, will be presented at the 19th International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) World Congress in Canada this month.
The SFF project which works with farming families to improve family health. well being and safety, is an innovative health project which was developed by WDHS, working closely with the tertiary sector and farming organisations. It has been supported by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Primary Industries.
The SFF project is led by WDHS Director of Community Services, Ms Sue Brumby, as principal investigator and Men’s Health Worker, Mr Stu Willder, as principal researcher in conjunction with other WDHS staff, RMIT and La Trobe Universities and more than 20 partners.
The program has forged significant inroads into the culture of farming families throughout Australia, and through its innovative approach has awakened farmers to the realisation that the health of their families plays a vital role in their success of their farming enterprises.
The paper will be presented by former WestVic Dairy Executive Officer, Tim Nelson at the Vancouver conference. Mr Nelson is currently executive director of the Poultry Industry Council of Canada, and has been an avid supporter for the SFF project.
He will outline the processes which have been used to engage more than 400 farming families across Australia in an active health education program over three years that relates family health to farm business outcomes.
Among the many unique aspects of this project, at the forefront is the integration of research into a practical program. The relationship between farmer health and safety, and farming family health has not previously been investigated.
“Traditionally farm health and safety has been focused on strategies including injury prevention, audits and fulfilling legislative responsibility,” Ms Brumby explained.
“But farmer injuries mask deeper health issues such as higher rates of cancer, suicides, cardiovascular disease and stress.”
“The family is also the place where we learn our health, wellbeing and safety values and no where is this more important than in a farming family where it is both a familial and economic unit,” she said.
Sustainable Farm Families works with farmers, their families, industry groups and university researchers to address and improve the health and wellbeing of farming families. SFF applies an active learning model, through which farm families and communities learn about health education and apply that knowledge, which has resulted in positive impacts on farming business.
The paper in Canada will discuss the progress of the research project, and highlight the importance of collaboration between diverse sectors and rural industries, which has successfully engaged farmers and their families in a program of active learning about health, wellbeing and safety on their farm.
ABOVE: The SFF paper was presented by former WestVic Dairy Executive Officer, Tim Nelson at the Vancouver conference. Mr Nelson is currently executive director of the Poultry Industry Council of Canada, and has been an avid supporter for the SFF project.