Enhancing the knowledge and skills of advisory and extension agents in mental health issues of farmers

Abstract

Objectives: To increase knowledge and skills of Advisory and Extension Agents (AEAs) in recognising the symptoms of mental disorders, providing initial help, and offering the referral pathway for appropriate professional help. Method: Provide Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to AEAs and compare assess knowledge and skills pre-training to six month post training. Results: The MHFA training improved the AEAs’ ability to recognise a mental disorder, increased their confidence level in providing help to someone with a mental health problem, decreased social distances and positively changed their beliefs about treatment. Conclusion: MHFA training is effective in enhancing the mental health knowledge and skills of AEAs. The agents, who are a main line of contact of farmers, are able to recognise mental disorders of people and help them appropriately. They are more willing to work with stigmatized people and know who to refer people to for help.