Partnering in Mental Health Support
Devon Charlier, MPH Student, University of Minnesota School of Public Health; Megan Schossow, MS, Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center; Sue Abderholden, MPH, NAMI Minnesota; Wil Sampson-Bermnstrom; Hayley McHale; Jeff Bender, MS, DVM, Director Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center
Devon Charlier is a graduate student in Community Health Promotion at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She is a part of the evaluation team at the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH). Devon is interested in applied research and evaluation to support communities in improving health and wellbeing.
Learning objective:
Participants will understand this model of providing mental health support in agricultural communities and how it might be applied
Discuss this presentation with the authors on Thursday, November 19 from noon – 12:30 on the Zoom Live-stream
NAMI Minnesota trained community members with lived experience in agriculture to facilitate QPR training within their own communities. This model worked to decrease feelings of stigma and isolation and build a sense of support. Over two years, this effort has been well-received and successful, reaching over 800 people across the state. After each training, participants reported increased awareness, skills, and preparedness relating to mental health crisis response. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NAMI Minnesota quickly adapted their programming to an online format, addressing the increased need for suicide response and building connections as new stressors arose for the farming community. Strong partnerships between and beyond UMASH and NAMI Minnesota have been central to the program’s success. This community-engaged model, created “by the ag community for the ag community”, could be applied to future work with this population or in this topic area.
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