Nearly 500 farmers will participate in a Teagasc-funded research project on their heart health due to start this July, Diana Van Doorn, a researcher at Carlow IT’s National Centre for Men’s Health, told a conference on farmers’ health at Teagasc Oak Park on Tuesday. She will test two types of interactions with farmers – individual health coaching and personalised text messaging – to see which is most efficient in prompting them to improve their cardiovascular health over the course of one year.
Nearly 500 farmers will participate in a Teagasc-funded research project on their heart health due to start this July, Diana Van Doorn, a researcher at Carlow IT’s National Centre for Men’s Health, told a conference on farmers’ health at Teagasc Oak Park on Tuesday.
She will test two types of interactions with farmers – individual health coaching and personalised text messaging – to see which is most efficient in prompting them to improve their cardiovascular health over the course of one year.
Listen to "Australian farmer health specialist Susan Brumby" on Spreaker.
Van Doorn’s previous survey of some of the 1,000 farmers who attended health checks at marts under the Farmers Have Heart campaign in recent years showed that 81% had four or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Similar results came out of 300 health checks offered by the IFA last year, with 75% of participating farmers overweight and one-third showing raised cholesterol. Farmers are seven times more likely to die of heart disease than other groups.
Benefits
Yet Van Doorn found that while eight out of 10 farmers in her study were referred to their GP, only three had made the visit after three months.
She noticed the benefits of a friendly mart setting and the presence of fellow farmers to encourage participation in check-ups.
She recommended more use of such “peer networks” in getting farmers to look after their health.
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