Governments and organizations that provide mental health support to farmers dealing with depression, anxiety, and isolation have traditionally focused on overcoming the stigma associated with getting help — but that isn’t the barrier farmers face, according to a new study by a research team led by rural sociologists at Penn State. The bigger issues, they found, are rural health care shortages, long wait times for appointments and travel time, as well as high health care costs.
The team said the most recent findings from their ongoing five-year study, published in the Journal of Rural Studies, suggest that more effective programs with added resources to address financial challenges — including efforts to help farmers navigate complex and time-consuming paperwork — could do far more to help farmers.