AgriSafe and CROP Testing Education Day
AgriSafe™ & CROP Testing Education Day
TOPIC:
Organophosphate Poisoning and Cholinesterase Inhibition
Guest Speaker:
John Edwards – Associate Professor & Toxicologist – – Flinders University
Personal Protection Equipment – The Facts
Tam Phillips – AgriSafe™ Clinician – NCFH
WHEN & WHERE:
Wednesday 16th September @ 9am
Lake Bolac Bush Nursing Centre
Hearing Tests available during the day
Morning Tea & light lunch provided
RSVP:
Friday 11th September, 2015
Tam Phillips – 0427 504 557 tam.phillips@wdhs.net
Diana Dixon – 55518533 diana.dixon@wdhs.net
2015-09-03 Five Days to Save Farmers Lives
Five days to save farmers lives
Agricultural Health & Medicine course attracts rural professionals
Now entering its seventh year, Australia’s only postgraduate agricultural health and medicine unit for professionals servicing farming communities continues to attract participants from across Australia. Designed to confront the high morbidity and mortality rates in the agricultural industry, the course better equips health providers, rural professionals and our farming communities with the knowledge and skills they need to help turn things around.
This was the case for 2013 scholarship recipient Lee-Ann Monks, an agricultural scientist and communications consultant from Bli Bli, QLD: “The course gave me an insight into the things that influence farmer health and its impact on the farm business. I now have a better understanding of the people I work with and a broader set of skills to help them.” Felix Ho, a paramedic in Darwin, NT and 2014 scholarship recipient agrees: “You’re not just looking at the medical conditions, but the range of factors that impact on these conditions in an agricultural context – the family, community and economic aspects.”
Scholarships are now open for the Deakin University’s exciting 5-day-intensive Agricultural Health and Medicine unit (HMF701), being offered through the National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) in Hamilton, western Victoria, from February 22nd to February 26th 2016. The presented topics cover a broad range of agricultural health, safety and wellbeing issues ranging from mental illness and addiction through to emergency medicine, agrichemicals and agricultural trauma. The course has also been accredited for professional development points in areas of medicine, veterinary science, social work and nursing.
“We know that a healthy workforce is vital for a productive agricultural industry, but through the work of the NCFH, we have learnt that farming families and their communities face poorer health outcomes than their urban counterparts. Agricultural workers have a high rate of injuries including fatalities and suffer chronic diseases at high rates.” Dr Brumby said.
Scholarship applications are open until 25th October 2015, with one of the scholarships reserved for a person engaged in agriculture and/or a member of a farming family. The HMF701 unit can be completed as a stand-alone course, and has been accredited for professional development points through selected colleges and associations, with some health professionals eligible to become AgriSafe™ providers. To date 120 people from all over Australia have undertaken the course.
Contact Dr Vanessa Vaughan, Lecturer Rural Health at NCFH on 03 5551 8533 or visit https://farmerhealth.org.au/page/education/what-is-hmf701 for further information.
Higher social distress and lower psycho-social wellbeing: examining the coping capacity and health of people with hearing impairment
The objectives of this paper are as follows: (1) propose an explanatory model as to how hearing disability may impact on health and (2) examine the model’s utility.
Farmers’ work‐day noise exposure
This study aims to understand the extent of farmers’ exposure to hazardous noise, and trial and test the ability of an on‐farm noise audit report to improve awareness and preventative action towards farm based noise hazards.
Special health needs of Australian farmers
The physical and mental health requirements of the farming workforce present unique challenges to pharmacists practicing in these communities.
Farmers sun exposure, skin protection and public health campaigns: An Australian perspective
This review explores the quantitative data about Australian farmers and their skin protective behaviours. We investigate what the documented measurable effect of the public health campaign Slip!Slop!Slap! has had on agricultural workers and farmers and make recommendations for future focus.
Cholinesterase Research Outreach Project (CROP): measuring cholinesterase activity and pesticide use in an agricultural community
Australian farmers and their workers are exposed to a wide variety of pesticides. Organophosphate (OP) insecticides are a widely used class of pesticide used for animal husbandry practices (Naphthalophos for sheep dipping, jetting and drench), crop production for pest control (Dimethoate) and in public health (Maldison for head lice). Acute poisonings with this class of insecticide are reported among agricultural workers and children around the globe, due to the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Less is known about chronic exposures. Regular monitoring of erythrocyte AChE will enable farmers to identify potential exposure to organophosphate insecticides and take action to reduce exposures and improve their health and safety practices. This study aims to assess and improve the integration of AChE monitoring into routine point of care health clinics, and provide farming and non-farming people with a link between their AChE activity and their household chemical and agrichemical use.
Farmer Health E-News – August 2015
See all the latest happenings at Farmer Health!
Farmer Health News
See all the latest happenings at Farmer Health
A call for Volunteers for new Fitter Farmers study
Improving Farmer Health:
A Call for Volunteers for New Study
Fitter Farmers? A comparison of physical activity levels in agricultural, regional and urban workforces
The National Centre for Farmer Health is seeking participants for a new study to investigate just how active Victorian farmers are.
Exercise is increasingly recognised as being protective against chronic disease, and beneficial to mental health. However, little is known about physical activity levels of farmers, or how they compare to other workforces. This means that the development of effective physical activity programs or recommendations to improve farmer health and prevent disease is challenging.
The ‘Fitter Farmers’ study is seeking full-time workers over the age of 18, from one of three groups:
- Farm-based agricultural workers located within 150km of Hamilton, Victoria
- Regional workers employed within Western District Health Service or ANZ regional branches
- Urban workers, who work in the Geelong or Melbourne areas
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to wear a FitBit and an ActivPal physical activity tracker. Over a 7-day period, the devices will record time spent in sitting, standing and stepping activities. You will also be asked to complete two 30-minute interviews, to keep track of what type of activities you do in a normal work day.
We hope that with your help we can find out more about the levels of physical activity of agricultural and regional workers in Victoria, and develop better health programs for Australian farmers.
Further information and application
If you have any questions, or would like to speak with the research team about joining the Fitter Farmers project, please get in touch.
Dr Vanessa Vaughan
Researcher
School of Medicine
Deakin University Tel (03) 5551 8533
v.vaughan@deakin.edu.au
2015-06-17 Technology to combat Australian farmer suicide – Deakin University
In response to Australia’s alarming male suicide rate, “beyondblue” will fund the National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) to lead an innovative project that uses technology, such as apps and websites – and evidence-based techniques – to encourage male farmers to take action on mental illness.
The project, called “The Ripple Effect,” is being funded through donations from the Movember Foundation and is one of six new “beyondblue” projects that aim to tackle suicide through technology, each targeting different demographics of Australian men.
“The Ripple Effect” will target Australia’s farming community, where many males are known to avoid seeking help – particularly for mental health issues – and believe they should demonstrate toughness and self-reliance, rather than emotional vulnerability. Self-stigma and perceived-stigma is common and can be extremely debilitating.
The Ripple Effect – Reducing Stigma
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Read the full article:
2015-06-17 Technology to combat Australian farmer suicide – Deakin University