A Cumbrian mental health nurse has been awarded a scholarship to help address suicide in farming.
Lucia Slack, who works as an NHS mental health nurse in rural Cumbria, has been awarded the prestigious Nuffield Farming Scholarship, sponsored by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, to study addressing and preventing suicide in agriculture.
The scholarship will see Lucia, who lives on a farm in the Eden valley with her first-generation dairy farmer husband Johnny, study abroad to meet like-minded people and explore cutting edge developments in the agricultural industry.
Allister Nixon, CEO of the society said: “Supporting the health and wellbeing of the farming community is a key priority of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, and so I am delighted that the Society is sponsoring Lucia to study such an important topic that I hope the wider industry will benefit from.”
Lucia’s studies will take her to countries where there are high suicide rates within the agricultural industry, such as India and China.
She will scrutinize successful programs that have tackled mental health and wellbeing, focusing on peer support, community engagement, and reducing stigma around mental health.
She also hopes to visit Australia where a minister for Mental Health has been appointed, Japan where psychological therapy is not covered by health insurance, the USA where a rural mental health conference takes place in Alaska, New Zealand where the industry is supported by a large number of farming charities, and Sweden, where digital tools are being used to make a difference.
She said: “I have both personal and professional experience of how stressful the agricultural industry can be. I wanted my Nuffield Scholarship to focus on suicide in agriculture because it’s such a big problem.
“Three people a week die by suicide in agriculture. With my background, I really hope to be able to positively influence the industry by exploring effective ways to prevent suicide and promote mental health in agriculture.
“I am truly thankful for this opportunity, made possible by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.”
Lucia believes that the UK’s key challenges to addressing suicide in agriculture include raising awareness of support to the hardest to reach, better equipping allied industry professionals to support farmers they are in direct contact with and tackling the stigma around talking about mental health.
She added: “There are lots of amazing services out there. I want to understand what the UK is already doing well and highlight it, but also explore how we can target the market that we aren’t reaching?
“How can we make people more aware of the support that is out there? I want to learn what approaches are being used to achieve this.”
In the UK, charities such as The Farming Community Network, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Addington Fund and Samaritans offer dedicated emotional support to farmers.
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is also part of a consortium of organisations that is delivering a two-year support program to boost the health and wellbeing of farmers and rural communities in the North of England.
This is being funded by £150,000 from the DEFRA Farmer Welfare Fund and is being delivered alongside The Farmer Network, Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services and Field Nurse.
If you need to talk to someone urgently the Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.
