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Community, Health, and Family

Farmers’ Engagement with Routine Health Care Services: Access and Barriers Sarah Immordino*, Maria Boerngen,

The National Safety Council consistently rates agriculture as one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, but farmers continue to remain a hard-to-reach population in healthcare. Facing difficulties including long distances and travel time to appointments, shortages of rural healthcare providers, and providers not understanding the unique challenges farmers face, low engagement with routine care services or preventative treatment puts farmers at increased risk for a multitude of afflictions. Experiencing disproportionate rates of suicide, illness, injury, and premature mortality compared to their non-farming counterparts, farmers are a population in need of programs and initiatives to improve overall health, yet they continue to remain an underserved population. The objectives of this mixed-methods research are to discover farmers’ perceptions of the healthcare system and identify barriers that discourage farmers’ utilization of health care services. Measuring farmers’ perspectives through a survey and a focus group will help identify areas of improvement in the health care system necessary for increasing farmers’ access to and engagement with health care services. Our findings may contribute to the development and implementation of public health initiatives to better the health of both farmers and those in rural communities.