Enhancing the Knowledge and Skills of Advisory and Extension Agents in Mental Health Issues of Farmers

Objectives: The aim of this study was to increase knowledge and skills of Advisory and Extension Agents (AEAs) in recognizing the symptoms of mental disorders, providing initial help, and offering the referral pathway for appropriate professional help.Method: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training...

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Published inAustralasian psychiatry : bulletin of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Vol. 17; no. 1_suppl; pp. S116 - S120
Main Authors Hossain, Delwar, Gorman, Don, Eley, Rob
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.08.2009
Subjects
Adult
Age Factors
Agricultural Workers' Diseases - diagnosis
Agricultural Workers' Diseases - psychology
Australia - epidemiology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Health Education
Health Promotion
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Referral and Consultation
Resilience, Psychological
Rural Population
Sex Factors
Young Adult
Australia
skills
training
mental illness
Confidence
knowledge
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Summary:Objectives: The aim of this study was to increase knowledge and skills of Advisory and Extension Agents (AEAs) in recognizing the symptoms of mental disorders, providing initial help, and offering the referral pathway for appropriate professional help.Method: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training was provided to AEAs and knowledge and skills pre-training were compared to 6-months post-training.Results: The MHFA training improved the AEAs’ ability to recognize a mental disorder, it increased their confidence level in providing help to someone with a mental health problem, it decreased social distances and positively changed their beliefs about treatment.Conclusion: MHFA training is effective in enhancing the mental health knowledge and skills of AEAs. The agents, who are a main line of contact of farmers, are able to recognize mental disorders of people and help them appropriately. They are more willing to work with stigmatized people and know who to refer people to for help.
ISSN:1039-8562
1440-1665
DOI:10.1080/10398560902948365