Elmhurst farmers return to monitor their health

Farming men and women from Elmhurst will return early September to participate in health assessments and learn more about their health.

As a part of the Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) program, farmers assist in a research project into the state of farming health, but also understand their own health risks, how to manage them and integrate them into farming life, which can be difficult given the pressures they face.

Results from 963 farmers who have participated in previous Victorian SFF workshops revealed 73 per cent of men and 61 per cent of women were classified as overweight or obese, instantly putting them into a high risk category for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and osteoarthritis.

EGHS Regional Health Service Community Nurse Ms Leonie Tellefson said “Nationally just over one-third of participants were also identified as having high blood pressure. High-risk participants such as these were referred for follow up with appropriate health professionals.”

 

Ms Tellefson highlighted that “there were some cases where participants had significant risk factors for diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis which were identified at the workshops, which could have otherwise gone unchecked and we are really looking forward to seeing how everyone has progressed with their health plans in the past 6 months.”

SFF workshops cover a range of health topics including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, stress, injury prevention, depression, anxiety, nutrition and exercise.

The program is an initiative of Western District Health Service delivered in partnership with the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and collaboration with East Grampians Health Service.  Funding for this program was provided as a part of the state government’s flood recovery package.