Tara Haskins, DNP, RN, AHN-BC

Tara Haskins, DNP, RN, AHN-BC is the Total Farmer Health Director and Behavioral Health Lead for AgriSafe®, a national agricultural health and safety nonprofit. She has 36 years of clinical registered nursing experience with 17 years in healthcare education.

Haskins is a board certified Advanced Holistic Nurse. In addition to overseeing partnerships to support AgriSafe’s Total Farmer Health initiatives, she is responsible for AgriSafe’s Total Farmer Health programming, lead for FarmResponse® training, quality assurance for the AgriStress Helpline, the only 24/7 suicide crisis/resource line for the agricultural community currently in 10 states. Haskins advocates for rural and agricultural communities at a state and federal level. She speaks and trains regularly on behalf of AgriSafe for associations, organizations, and governmental agencies at the state and federal level to increase awareness and improve the health of the workforce that provide the food, fuel, and fiber for the world. 

Haskins holds an MSN in Psychiatric Family Mental Health-Nurse Practitioner from University of Texas at Arlington with a focus on substance use disorders and a DNP in Nursing Forensics from the University of Tennessee. She recently completed a certificate in horticultural therapy from the Horticultural Therapy Institute. Haskins is a 2018 Rural Health Fellow from the National Rural Health Association and an AgriSafe Nurse Scholar. She is certified as a trainer in QPR (suicide prevention gatekeeper), Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) and Overdose Lifeline Naloxone for Communities. Haskins is an active member of the National Rural Health Association and the American Holistic Nurses Association where she serves on the Planetary Health working group. 

Title

AgriSafe’s Total Farmer Health Model: A framework for the agricultural workforce and healthcare professionals 

Abstract

According to the USDA 2017 census data, there are 3.4 million farmers working in the United States. The agriculture industry is one of the top occupations, with some of the highest rates of injury and deaths by suicide. The factors contributing to this dynamic are many and unique to this workforce. Agricultural communities live in rural areas where healthcare disparities exist, making health and safety of this population even more challenging. Farmworkers, critical to the food security of our nation, experience their own unique disparities. AgriSafe, an affiliate of Total Worker Health, developed the Total Farmer Health model in response to the health complexities that exist for this specific rural population.

AgriSafe’s Total Farmer Health® model is a communication framework that illustrates the factors that affecting physical and mental wellbeing for this critical workforce. Dr. Haskins will review the factors affecting both physical and mental health for individuals working in agriculture. She will share leadership strategies that build momentum through interprofessional collaborations and partnerships in the occupational health nonprofit space. Finally, she will tell the stories of unique educational programming and direct services such as the AgriStress Helpline, first 24/7 suicide/resource crisis line for agriculture illustrating what is possible when we dream big as a health organization.