Farming Minds Project
News
- AgriFood Matters Podcast Series
- Recent News 2022
- Recent News 2023
- 22/23 School Awards Ceremony
- UCD Teagasc Knowledge Transfer Funded Masters 2023
- SAFS Achieves First Silver Athena Swan Award in UCD
- Ensuring Food Security on the Island of Ireland
- UCD Masters in Agricultural Extension and Innovation Webinar
- UCD Horticulture develops 'Top 10 Pollinator-friendly Plants' guide
- UCD & Macra Agricultural Skillnet - MSc Agricultural Extention and Innovation
- Ireland’s Claire Mc Cormack is first visiting global agricultural journalist
- ‘Sustainable Food Systems’ the theme at the Agri Aware and UCD stand at the National Ploughing Championships
- UCD leads ‘Ireland Day’ at Science Summit at UNGA78 in New York
- BAgrSc class of 1983 reunion
- UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science Alumni Profile
- Leading UCD, Queens and Sheffield researchers awarded €31.5 million to transform food system
- School of Agriculture & Food Science Awards 2023
- Dr Helen Sheridan appointed to the Teagasc Authority
- BSc Sustainable Food Systems
- Exciting PhD Opportunity
- Graduate Spotlight: Richard Shakespeare
- Graduate Spotlight: Seán Molloy
- Coillte Launches New Foresty Scholarship Programme
- My Uni Life returns to RTE featuring UCD students & Lyons Farm
- University College Dublin researchers recruiting horses for Equine Headshaking Syndrome research.
- Farming Minds Project
- One Health: UCD launches pioneering new centre for better health of people and the planet
- UCD Agriculture, Food Science & Human Nutrition Careers Day 2024
- Farm Walk and Talk Returns to Lyons Farm
- UCD Teagasc Knowledge Transfer Funded Masters 2024
- UCD SAFS celebrates St.Patricks Day in China
- Crillo Cattle - Could heat resistant cattle be the industry's answer to climate change?
- Emerging Greentech Start-Up Wins UCD’s 2024 VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme
- UCD Summer Schools 2024
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science Graduate Taught Webinar Series
- A number of exciting PhD Opportunities Available
- Our Rural Future: Minister Humphreys launches first ever bursary to support Masters Students in field of rural development
- New collaborative research centre to transform food system launches at UCD
- PWE - Why it's one of the best thing about studying Ag & Food Science
- ‘We need a one-cycle agri-food system,’ says FAO Director General
- Aoife Feeney - Studying at UCD through DARE
- Beef-Quest Research Project aims to Reduce Age of Cattle Finishing
- UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science Celebrates it's new Class of 2024
- Adaptive predator management to promote breeding wader conservation
- GDIC Conferring Ceremony 2024
- The launch of the new FBD UCD agricultural research and education centre takes place at UCD.
- Teagasc PhD Walsh Scholarship Opportunity
The Farming Minds proposal is a collaboration between Agricultural Science and Psychology at University College Dublin ‘UCD Agri Mental Health Group’ interdisciplinary team, South East Technical University and HSE funded ‘On Feirm Ground’ farmer health training programme in order to promote farmer health.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, UCD Farm Mental Health Working Group and South East Technological University are hiring, with 3 exciting positions open to work on this project.
- Post Doc Researcher 48 months UCD
- Post Doc Researcher 24 months SETU
- Research Assistant 48 months (0.3 FTE) UCD
Full job descriptions can be found below and interested candidates can apply directly through the (opens in a new window)UCD and (opens in a new window)SETU HR Websites.
The Farming Minds project has a dedicated team of Prof Louise McHugh, UCD School of Psychology, DrTomásRussell, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, Dr Deirdre O'Connor, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, Ms Anne Markey, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and Dr Noel Richardson, National Centre for Men's Health, SETU. This team aims to develop and test the feasibility and effectiveness of a scalable psychological intervention for farmers to target the key areas (i.e., mental health, stress, resilience) in terms of prevention and early intervention. In collaboration with and building on the existing framework of On Feirm Ground with farmer health, we aim to develop evidence-based interventions that go beyond signposting to support the development of key psychological skills.
Recent research by the team at UCD revealed that 23.4% of farmers were considered at risk for suicide. Over half of the farmers are currently experiencing moderate to extremely severe depression. Almost 40% were experiencing moderate to extremely severe anxiety and stress. Farm stress is associated with higher suicidal ideation and higher distress.
Farmers identified (i) government policies designed to reduce climate change, (ii) outsiders not understanding farming, and (iii) concern over the future of the farm as the key stressors. Psychological skills were associated with lesser suicidal ideation and lesser distress. The findings highlighted the importance of mental health initiatives and suicide awareness for the farming community and that farmers prefer experiential, group-based interventions delivered by experts in psychology who are also familiar with the nature of farming. The best way to address these challenges is to develop interventions to support farmers with skills that build resilience to help them cope with farm stress and uncertainty. Experts in mental health also need to be involved in the development and delivery of these interventions. Tailored culturally sensitive interventions to support farmers' mental health are necessary.