Resilience and the mental health and wellbeing of farm families experiencing climate variation in South Australia

Debra King

The Strategic Planning Policy and Research Branch of the South Australian Department of Health has commissioned NILS to conduct a two-year study entitled ‘Resilience and the mental health and wellbeing of farm families experiencing climate variation in South Australia’. Resilience in this project is conceptualised as a dynamic process that occurs within farm families which display positive adaptation in the areas of work and mental wellbeing despite experiencing adversity resulting from increasing climatic variation and uncertainty.

The multidisciplinary research team comprises Dr Debra King (Chief Investigator, NILS), Anna Lane (NILS), Dr Jennene Greenhill (Flinders Rural Health Clinic), and Associate Professor Colin MacDougall (Public Health, Flinders). The team also benefits from the insights of its management group comprising Professor Sue Richardson (NILS) and members from the Department of Health, Country Health SA, PIRSA and SAFF.

The project commenced in July 2007.