%0 Journal Article
%T Understanding farmers' barriers to health and mental health-related help-seeking: the development, factor structure, and reliability of the Farmer Help-Seeking Scale
%J Journal of rural health
%D 2023
%A Skaczkowski, Gemma
%A Hull, Melissa
%A Smith, Ashleigh E.
%A Dollman, James
%A Jones, Martin
%A Gunn, Kate M.
%V ePub
%N ePub
%P ePub-ePub
%X PURPOSE: The aim of this research was to develop a contextually and culturally appropriate scale to assess farmers' barriers to health-related help-seeking. <br><br>METHODS: An initial pool of items was developed from the academic literature and input from an expert panel of farmers, rural academics, and rural clinicians. A draft 32-item questionnaire was then developed and sent to farmers registered with FARMbase, which is an Australian national farmer database. <br><br>FINDINGS: Two hundred and seventy-four farmers completed the draft questionnaire (93.7% male, 73.7% aged 56-75 years). An exploratory factor analysis identified 6 factors; "Health Issues are a Low Priority," "Concerns about Stigma," "Structural Health System Barriers," "Minimization and Normalization," "Communication Barriers," and "Continuity of Care.". Test-retest reliability was examined with a further 10 farmers (90% male, Mean age = 57, SD = 5.91), who completed the questionnaire twice (at 2- to 3-week intervals). <br><br>RESULTS indicated moderate-good test-retest reliability. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The resulting 24-item Farmer Help-Seeking Scale provides a measure of help-seeking that is specifically designed to capture the unique context, culture, and attitudes that can interfere with farmers' help-seeking, and inform the development of strategies to increase health-service utilization in this at-risk group.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I John Wiley and Sons
%@ 0890-765X
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12768