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

The Ripple Effect – Reducing Stigma

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2015-06-17 Technology to combat Australian farmer suicide – Deakin University

Locust sprays – advice for farmer & health workers

Advice for farmers

Use of chemicals for the management of Australian plague Locust can present risks to farmers. Prior to using any pesticide, check the relevant labels, any permits and the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for respective precautions and recommendations regarding personal protective equipment (PPE). Agriculture Victoria is encouraging farmers to control this pest in Victoria, by watching for Australian plague locusts on their property and spraying with insecticides.

Take care when handling chemicals

Use personal protective equipment (PPE)

PPE for use with insecticides may include:

Fit respirators carefully

If you use a respirator:

Pay attention to personal hygiene

Personal hygiene is very important when working with insecticides:

Seek help if you don’t feel well

If you experience any unusual symptoms, like dizziness, nausea, vomiting, skin rashes or burns, seek medical help immediately. Call the National Poisons Information Centre

Tel. 13 11 26

Chemicals used to control locusts

A number of insecticide products are available for the treatment of Australian plague locusts. These products fall into four broad groups:

Advice for health workers 

Management of locust spray contamination

General practitioners and health services may see patients who have been contaminated with or ingested chemicals used to spray locusts.

While it is important to identify (where possible) the chemical that may be involved, symptomatic patients should be treated on their clinical merit.

Inadvertent exposure may occur during handling and dilution or because of a road traffic accident involving a vehicle transporting chemicals. In rare occasions it may also occur due to spray drift.

Reporting

If a number of patients from the same area present with symptoms attributable to chemical exposure, clinicians should report it to regional health services who will notify the Department of Health via the relevant regional office.

Fast facts:

References used for this topic

More information:

National Poisons Information Centre
Advice on poisoning or chemical exposure 24/7 – call 13 11 16

Agriculture Victoria (Vic)
Plague Locusts

Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
Australian Plague Locust
Locust control agents – livestock and crop residues

Business Queensland (Qld)
Locusts (all species)

Research and reviews:

Emergency Medicine Australasia
Consensus statement: Risk of nosocomial organophosphate poisoning in emergency departments [PDF 70kb]

Image by Shirt58 – Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chortoicetes_terminifera_(Walker)_cain629.jpg

2015-06-23 A positive Ripple Effect – Stock and Land

beyondblue and The Movember Foundation have got behind The Ripple Effect campaign to help reduce the stigma of rural suicide.

The Ripple Effect is an online tool allowing men from the farming community to work shoulder to shoulder in the fight against the stigma of rural suicide—turning the negative ripple of suicide into a positive ripple of support.

It will be available on multiple platforms—from personal computers to the latest smartphones and tablets—to ensure that everyone can connect and contribute.

beyondblue and Movember have support The Ripple Effect as one of six projects that use technology along with evidence-based techniques to show men that taking action on mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. The beyondblue and Movember partnership to fund these six projects is called The STRIDE project (Stigma Reduction Interventions: Digital Environments) and it will be a world-leading research project involving thousands of men, including former Australian rules footballers, farmers, refugees and fly-in-fly-out workers, which aims to end the embarrassment that stops men from getting help for conditions such as depression and anxiety.

This Ripple Effect is a partnership between beyondblue, Deakin University, the National Centre for Farmer Health, Western District Health Service, the Victorian Farmers Federation, AgChatOZ, Sandpit and the Mental Illness Fellowship of North Queensland.

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2015-06-23 A positive Ripple Effect – Stock and Land

2015-06-18 New project to reduce suicide and stigma about mental health issues – The Weekly Times

REDUCING stigma about mental health issues is the focus of a new suicide-reduction project.

To mark International Men’s Health Week, Beyondblue announced $440,000 over two years for The Ripple Effect.

The interactive digital program, which aims to reduce the number of male suicides by changing the way farmers think about mental health, will be headed by the National Centre for Farmer Health and Deakin University.

Sue Brumby from the NCFH said the project would interact with farmers via their phones, fax or online.

“It’s an exciting way to work with farming communities,” Dr Brumby said.

“It will allow people to engage, anywhere, any time,” she said.

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2015-06-18 New project to reduce suicide and stigma about mental health issues – The Weekly Times

2015-06-17 Troy Luff tackles stigma of mental illness, a real killer for men – The Sydney Morning Herald

The irony is not lost on former Sydney Swans great Troy Luff.

Fifteen years ago, when the AFL footballer was mired deep in debilitating depression, he feared he would appear weak if he revealed mental illness had eroded his motivation.

It’s about people crossing the street not to talk to you, because suicide is seen as different to having a heart attack and dying.

Professor Susan Brumby

But keeping it to himself actually weakened Luff in other ways, most tellingly his football career.

As the 2001 season neared its end he decided there was no way he could continue and told the coach he was going to retire.

It was not until he found the strength – just weeks from the end of the season – to seek psychological help that things began to shift and he played the final game.

“I ended up taking a mark and finished the game with a ball in my hand,” Luff says.

A new research project will encourage thousands of Australian men – including Aussie rules footballers, refugees, fly-in-fly-out workers and farmers – to consider the stigma that surrounds divulging their mental health issues.

Each year nearly 2000 Australian men die by suicide – about double the number who die on the roads.

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2015-0617 Troy Luff tackles stigma of mental illness, a real killer for men – The Sydney Morning Herald

2015-06-17 Troy Luff tackles stigma of mental illness, a real killer for men – The Age

The irony is not lost on former Sydney Swans great Troy Luff.

Fifteen years ago, when the AFL footballer was mired deep in debilitating depression, he feared he would appear weak if he revealed mental illness had eroded his motivation.

It’s about people crossing the street not to talk to you, because suicide is seen as different to having a heart attack and dying.

Professor Susan Brumby

But keeping it to himself actually weakened Luff in other ways, most tellingly his football career.

As the 2001 season neared its end he decided there was no way he could continue and told the coach he was going to retire.

It was not until he found the strength – just weeks from the end of the season – to seek psychological help that things began to shift and he played the final game.

“I ended up taking a mark and finished the game with a ball in my hand,” Luff says.

A new research project will encourage thousands of Australian men – including Aussie rules footballers, refugees, fly-in-fly-out workers and farmers – to consider the stigma that surrounds divulging their mental health issues.

Each year nearly 2000 Australian men die by suicide – about double the number who die on the roads.

…

Read the full article: 

2015-0617 Troy Luff tackles stigma of mental illness, a real killer for men – The Age

2015-06-17 New project will save lives of Australian men – beyondblue

A world-first research project involving thousands of men, including former Australian rules footballers, refugees and fly-in-fly-out workers, will aim to end the embarrassment that stops them from getting help for conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The STRIDE (Stigma Reduction Interventions: Digital Environments) project is comprised of six smaller projects that use technology, such as apps and websites, along with evidence-based techniques to show men that taking action on mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It is funded by beyondblue with donations from The Movember Foundation and has been unveiled to coincide with Men’s Health Week this week.

beyondblue CEO Georgie Harman said STRIDE was a response to the shocking number of men who die by suicide in Australia each year, which is almost double the number who die on our roads. …

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2015-06-17 New project will save lives of Australian men – beyondblue

The Ripple Effect
Partners: Deakin University, National Centre for Farmer Health, Victorian Farmers Federation, AgChatOz, Mental Illness Fellowship North Queensland, Western District Health Service, Sandpit
What it is: An online education program for farmers affected by suicide

2015-05-26 Self-reliance stops people in the bush seeking help for their problems – ABC Rural

Health professionals believe a culture of dealing with tragedy in isolation remains an ongoing issue, the National Rural Health Conference in Darwin has been told.

They say everyone going through a crisis should be comfortable asking for help, but the self-reliance of many people in the bush is stopping them from seeking out that assistance.

Alison Kennedy, from the National Centre for Farmer Health, said being seen to be tough and able to deal with things alone is a real issue.

“The people I’ve been speaking to who have been bereaved by suicide and accidental death,” she said.

“They’re very good at giving help to other people but they’re not great at asking for help themselves, particularly when it comes to emotional issues.

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2015-05-26 Self-reliance stops people in the bush seeking help for their problems – ABC Rural

2015-04-29 National Farmer Health Centre to remain open with Victorian Government funding – ABC Rural

The new Victorian Government has reaffirmed a multi-million-dollar election promise to fund a farmer health centre.

The now Labor Government headed into last year’s election promising $4 million for the National Centre for Farmer Health, at Hamilton in western Victoria.

Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford, who represents the state’s west in the upper house, said next week’s budget would fully fund the commitment.

She said the centre would receive $1 million a year during the government’s first term.

Ms Pulford said the funds would ‘return [the centre] to its former glory’.

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2015-04-29 National Farmer Health Centre to remain open with Victorian Government funding – ABC Rural

2015-04-29 $4 million funds boost for Hamilton’s National Centre for Farmer Health – The Standard

JUBILATION and a few dance moves were on display yesterday with $4 million in state cash securing the future of the National Centre for Farmer Health.

The Hamilton centre, situated at the city’s public hospital, will gain $1 million annually for the next four years to continue its research following the pre-budget announcement.

State Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford delivered the news to staff and civic leaders at the morning ceremony,  with centre director Susan Brumby performing an impromptu dance of joy in front of the crowd.

Ms Brumby said the centre had been in financial limbo for the past few years and the cash would help to retain jobs at the Western District Health Services site.

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2015-04-29 $4 million funds boost for Hamilton’s National Centre for Farmer Health – The Standard

2015-04-29 Dancing for joy – The Standard [PDF 7mb]

2015-04-28 Deakin University welcomes funding for National Centre for Farmer Health – Deakin University

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELEASE

28 April 2015

Deakin University welcomes funding for National Centre for Farmer Health

Deakin University has welcomed today’s announcement by the Victorian State Government of $4million for the National Centre for Farmer Health.

“We are delighted to see the State Government fulfil its election promise by including the $4million funding for the Centre in the upcoming Victorian budget,” said Professor Brendan Crotty, Deakin’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health).

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2015-04-28 Deakin University welcomes funding for National Centre for Farmer Health – Deakin University

2015-04-28 Labor saves the National Centre for Farmer Health – The Hon Jaala Pulford

The Andrews Labor Government today guaranteed the future of the National Centre for Farmer Health, after the previous Coalition Government nearly destroyed the Centre by cutting critical funding and refusing to provide ongoing support.

Visiting the Centre in Hamilton today, Minister for Agriculture, Jaala Pulford, announced $4 million in funding in the upcoming 2015-16 Victorian Budget to secure the Centre’s future.

The funding fulfils a key election promise and will allow the Centre to rebuild after the Coalition’s cuts saw staff numbers slashed by 75 per cent leaving the Centre with only three full time positions.

 

Read the full media release:

2015-04-28 Labor saves the National Centre for Farmer Health – The Hon Jaala Pulford