Recognising and Managing Distress Among Farming Clients: An Evaluation of Brief Training for Rural Financial Counsellors and Other Non‐Clinical Rural Support Workers

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a tailored, brief, 3‐h training program to help Rural Financial Counsellors and other non‐clinical rural support workers recognise and manage distress experienced by their farming clients. Setting: Rural, regional and remote Australia. Participants: Rural support workers (N = 75; primarily Rural Financial Counsellors and Family and Business mentors) undertaking a 2‐part, online training programme for recognising and managing distress in farmers. Design: Individual questionnaires were collected before the first workshop, after the second workshop, and 3 months post completion of both workshops. Results: S eventy‐five participants provided pre‐training data. A series of mixed models for repeated measures identified significant improvements in participants' confidence in recognising and managing farmers' distress pre‐ to post‐training. Specifically, increases in confidence in differentiating mild distress from distress requiring professional help (F = 11.30, p < 0.001), skills to use time well (F = 14.17, p < 0.001), recognising distress (F = 9.16, p < 0.001), dealing with the needs of distressed farmers (F = 22.93, p < 0.001), talking to farmers about their wellbeing (F = 16.47, p < 0.001), knowing when to refer farmers for additional support (F = 19.10, p < 0.001), knowing where to refer farmers for additional support (F = 14.00, p < 0.001), were maintained at the 3‐month follow‐up. Pre‐ post‐training, participants' behavioural intentions to refer their clients to a farmer‐specific mental health intervention (www.ifarmwell.com.au) increased (F = 48.26, p < 0.001), which was maintained at 3‐month follow‐up. The training did not significantly change participants' quality of life or work stress. Conclusions: Findings suggest that a brief, tailored training programme significantly increases rural support workers' confidence in recognising and managing distress in their farming clients.