“These are all eminently treatable illnesses that many people can avoid if they take care of their diet, exercise and sleep,” Sovereign’s chief medical officer Dr John Mayhew said.
Sovereign hoped to raise awareness of some of these issues and inspire farmers to take charge of their health through involvement at this week’s National Fieldays at Mystery Creek.
Sovereign sponsors the Rural Bachelor of the Year competition and has tailored heats to focus on health and wellbeing. Contestants will learn how to have fun getting fit during a boot camp with Sovereign healthy living ambassador Nicola Smith and be challenged to create the healthiest smoothies in a kitchen competition.
“It’s a bit of fun that will get people thinking about how they can start making small changes to their lifestyle. We are all good at making excuses, but our health is at stake so let’s do something about it before we need help fixing it,” Mayhew said.
He also pointed to findings from the 2015 Sovereign Wellbeing Index, which discovered the critical role community connections played in our lives.
“The study revealed that through building a support network of colleagues, neighbours and community groups we gain more resilience and are better equipped to deal with hard times in our lives. Almost 40% of Kiwis only meet with others socially once a month or less.”
In addition to issues around physical health, Sovereign worked closely with the Mental Health Foundation to raise awareness of mental health issues, particularly relevant to the rural sector which experiences higher than average levels of depression and suicide.
“We are all good at making excuses, but our health is at stake so let’s do something about it before we need help fixing it.”
Dr John Mayhew
Sovereign
“It’s clear farmers face a number of stressors managing high debt levels, experiencing uncertainties in their business, maintaining work-life balance and living far away from community facilities,” Mental Health Foundation director of policy and development Hugh Norriss said.
“As ongoing stress can increase the risk of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, we encourage farmers to take steps to look after their mental health and wellbeing to equip them with the resilience they need to overcome adversity. The new Farmstrong website provides excellent information on how to do this.”
Mayhew said starting conversations about mental health was one of the first steps towards broadening awareness of some of these issues.
“If people are more open to talking about it, looking out for those early warning signs and, as the Sovereign Wellbeing Index suggests, connecting with those around us it will go a long way to assisting with some of these figures.
“It’s a big issue not only for the rural community, but the country as a whole. At Sovereign, mental illness is the number one condition for disability income claims, making up more than 30% or $33 million in the last year,” Mayhew said.
