A Study concerning the Health Care of Famers Belonging to a Local Agricultural Cooperative Association

Abstract

For effective planning of famer's health care activities, it is necessary to research the level of health consciousness, and the existant health programs among farmers. To make future programs more responsive to farmer's needs, the Kakegawa City Agricultural Co-operative Association conducted a survey and investigated field conditions of all agricultural co-operative farmers. Investigation resulted in the following findings: 1) An overall average of 83.7% of those surveyed had received a physical examination during the year. The percentage differed by sex and region. 2) About 60% of the physical examinations were sponsored by local governments. Other sponsors were the Agriculture Co-operative Association, and private companies. 3) An overall percentage of 46.6% said that they would like the Agriculture Co-operative Association to provide physical examinations more frequently. 4) Those who didn't take physical examinations didn't because they were "healthy and an examination was therefore not necessary, " and they were "just too busy with other things". 5) About 60% of those surveyed received medical consultation for some reason or another during the year, the percentage being lower in remote areas. 6) The percentage taking medicinal drugs was a bit higher in urban and adjacent areas, but not significantly so. Most received drugs by doctor's prescription. 7) On the average, only about 29.5% were conscious of the following health related factors: exercise; restricted intake of salt; consumption of vegetables; sufficient sleep; etc. 8) With regards to usage of poisonous agricultural chemicals, about 71 varieties of chemicals in the organic phosphorous and carbamate families were mentioned. Persons in charge of spraying were overwhelmingly female. 9) Among all those surveyed, 6.8% experienced symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and general discomfort. A scant 8.9% of these sought medical consultation. 10) Over the course of the past year, a total of 3.3% were injured in agricultural accidents. A total of 14.9% carried insurance coverage for such accidents. 11) Among the health related requests of the agriculture co-operative members were regular annual medical examinations, free medical examinations, medical care facilities for the agriculture co-operative associations, guidance with regards to usage of poisonous agricultural chemicals, and short study courses on health related matters in each district. There were a total of 49 items. It is recommended that these health related requests (11) be considered. Health education is especially important with regards to usage of chemicals and prevention of agricultural accidents. Physical examinations are important with regards to the usage of chemicals.