Highlights report - 2nd meeting of the Thematic Group on Supporting the Mental Health of Farmers and Farming Communities

The second and final meeting of the Thematic Group (TG) on Supporting the Mental Health of Farmers and Farming Communities began with TG members reporting key messages from two informal TG exchanges. These focused respectively on mental health and women in farming, and on tailored sustainable mental health support for farmers. The meeting continued with a discussion on the transferability of the best practice examples identified so far, which are analysed in a separate document produced by the TG.

The meeting continued with a fishbowl discussion, which allowed everyone in the room to join a rotating panel and share their views. Key points emerging from the discussion include the importance of building trust (to allow farmers to open up and start the conversation on both physical and mental health); recognising that the constant pressure farmers are subject to is not 'normal'; and making help readily available and multi-faceted, tailored to the needs of different users on the ground.

TG members had ample time to discuss in groups and develop action-oriented recommendations about awareness raising, and action at farmer level, community level, and institutional level. These were developed starting from key ingredients for successul support to farmers' mental health, identified through previous TG activities.

The meeting ended with participants sharing their plans to make use of the insights gained from the TG activities on a personal and professional level. TG members underscored the significance of gathering and disseminating best practices across Member States, and overall expressed their optimism and hope for progress on the mental health of the farming and farm community. The importance of ongoing dialogue across different types of stakeholders, including policy-makers, was underscored.