Farm Stress Resources Available Through Purdue Extension’s Farm Stress Team

You work hard to take care of your farm and your family. The Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team encourages you to take care of yourself and your mental health so you can care for others. To do this, they’re providing a number of resources to farmers and rural communities.
Workshops are being held around the state beginning today and running through July called “Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives”. Members of the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team will be on hand at these events coordinated by the Indiana Rural Health Association to end the stigma surrounding mental health.
“These workshops are focused on creating awareness in rural communities,” says Abby Heidenreich, a member of the Farm Stress Team and an extension educator in Orange County. “We’re really going to where those people are. We’re meeting people where they are to talk about the things that maybe aren’t talked about as much as they should be in rural communities.”
Learn more about those workshops here.
Heidenreich says a future goal of the team is to create a call center for farmers who are in distress and need to talk to someone. They are currently creating content for those future call center workers.
“And what that does is that allows us to focus the content on very specific bits of information that are very key to assisting someone in a rural community, or on a farm, when they’re in crisis. So, there’s a couple of really key points to make to those call center workers, things to look for and things to be understanding of and aware of that happen in the ag industry that may not happen in other industries.”
If you have questions about the resources available through the Purdue Extension Farm Stress Team, “We will be at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville February 16-19,” says Heidenreich. “You’ll be able to find us at the Purdue University booth. We will have all kinds of Farm Stress Team information and a Farm Stress Team member will be there to talk with anyone who wants to learn more about our programs.”
And check them out online, extension.purdue.edu/farmstress, where you can also listen to their podcast Tools for Today’s Farmers.
Full HAT Interview: Abby Heidenreich, a member of the Farm Stress Team and an extension educator in Orange County.

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