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The four-year study has commenced this week to identify approaches and assist farmers in improving their cardiovascular health.
While a general decline in cardiovascular-related deaths has occurred in the Irish population, this decline does not transfer over to Irish farmers, who are the highest at risk of all the socio-economic groups, according to Teagasc.
Managing health
Speaking at the announcement, Professor Gerry Boyle highlighted the importance of the study to “meet the key challenge of devising and implementing strategies to assist farmers to effectively manage occupational health issues, including CVD.”
Marese Damery of the Irish Heart Foundation is hopeful this new study can add to their current findings.
“The Irish Heart Foundation welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on this project as it builds on the research already commissioned by us, which revealed that 80% of farmers are in the high-risk group for heart disease and stroke.”
The study will be headed up by PhD Walsh Fellow Ms Dianna Van Doorn and will be supported by Glanbia Ireland, Irish Heart Foundation, The Health Services Executive and the UCD School of Physiotherapy and Performance Science.
The research will provide opportunities for farmers attending marts in 60 locations throughout Ireland during 2018-2019.
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