Agricultural and Farming Community Project

Herefordshire and Worcestershire NHS Foundation Trust

Herefordshire and Worcestershire’s geography and population meant that their agricultural and farming communities were an important focus for their AMHE project. In the local population, 12% are employed in agriculture, compared with 1% nationally, and 95% of the land is classified as rural.

The project aimed to increase awareness and understanding of mental health, and improve access to support for communities underserved by mental health services and people who experience barriers to accessing support.

The population/group

People living and working in farming and agricultural communities in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The project team

The team included representation from:

Borderlands Rural Chaplaincy
District Council
Healthwatch Herefordshire
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
MIND Herefordshire
Public Health
Rural Hub Herefordshire
Talk Wellbeing
Taurus Healthcare (Primary Care GP Federation)
We are Farming Minds.

What they found out from the community and other stakeholders

To begin their agricultural and farming community project, the team first spent time learning about the community to better understand their experiences and needs. They did this using:

Community engagement through existing community activities, events and spaces, such as livestock markets.
Listening and engagement events with staff working in local mental and physical health services.
National and local data, including demographic and public health data.

Then, the team built relationships with the community and key community partners by:

Inviting key community partners to the project as equal partners (please see ‘The project team’ section, above)
Understanding the need to create opportunities to meet and connect with the community within existing farming and agricultural networks and spaces, such as markets. The project team, in partnership with outreach services, shared information about the project and developed ideas for change in-person with members of the community.

What the team learned through building relationships with the community and key community partners

There was a need to increase awareness and understanding of mental health within the community as this was one of the barriers to accessing mental health services.
The community did not feel understood by local providers of healthcare, including mental health services.
Long working hours, isolation, financial instability and other stressors make it more difficult for members of the community to prioritise their own health needs.
Meeting the community where they are at to build and maintain relationship is key for healthcare providers to improve their delivery of care and to improve access, experience and outcomes of care for the community.

Ideas they are testing

The project team developed a QI project with the aim to increase routine mental health screening, and signposting and/or referral of those assessed as having a mental health need, for those living and working in agricultural and farming communities in Herefordshire.

The first idea tested was a collaboration with an service supported by Talk Wellbeing, which includes county-wide mobile ‘pop-ups’ offering NHS health checks, signposting, vaccinations, and support registration with GPs for members of the agricultural and farming community. Talk Wellbeing staff were trained to offer anxiety and depression screening to anyone attending the mobile pop-up at livestock markets. A signposting and referral pathway was designed for anyone who needed further support from the NHS and/or voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations.

Successes and achievements

Establishing a project team with representation from a wide variety of NHS, healthcare and VCSE organisations.
Delivering two listening and engagement events for staff at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
Starting to build relationships and have in-person conversations about mental health with the agricultural and farming community in community spaces.
Offering mental health screening with Talk Wellbeing at local livestock markets

What's next?

At the end of the team’s AMHE project, they were planning to:

Continue to build and strengthen relationships with the local agricultural and farming community.
Continue to strengthen partnerships with community organisations.
Continue to offer mental health screening in community spaces, and co-produce further development of this offer with members of the community as equal partners.