UKRF - 2024 Facilitate Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training - Raising Hope

During the 2023 Raising Hope strategic planning session, gaps in service and projects were identified pertaining to the eastern region of Kentucky. With recent flooding disasters in multiple counties, the increased need for mental health awareness, intervention, and education exists as recovery efforts continue, especially within the farming population. This proposed project will introduce and facilitate Mental Health First Aid instruction to ag-centric populations in eastern Kentucky communities. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training that instructs participants to identify, understand and respond to the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges. Participants gain skills to provide initial assistance, support, and referral through the MHFA action plan. Peer-reviewed studies have shown that MHFA participants: • Grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms, and risk factors of mental health and substance use challenges. • Can identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or substance use challenge. • Increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress. • Show increased mental well-being (MHFA, 2022) Participants will ideally be farmers, farm family members, and stakeholders within the community that may interact with farmers (lenders, insurance, sales, educators, health personnel, etc.). By creating a farm-focused audience for MHFA, the proposed project will accomplish three out of five of Raising Hope’s short-term outcomes and all three of the intermediate goals: MHFA Participant Skills Learned Raising Hope Short-Term Raising Hope Intermediate Goals Outcomes Increased knowledge of signs, IG2: Farm community members exhibit symptoms, and risk factors of mental SO3: Encourage help-seeking behaviors an increase in holistic wellness health and substance use challenges in farm communities Identification of multiple types of professional and self-help resources for SO3: Encourage help-seeking behaviors IG1: Sustained and expanded individuals with a mental health or in farm communities community-wide investment in farmer substance use challenge. SO4: Increase farm communities’ holistic health knowledge of holistic health resources IG2: Farm community members exhibit Increased confidence in and likelihood an increase in holistic wellness to help an individual in distress SO3: Encourage help-seeking behaviors in farm communities IG1: Sustained and expanded Increased participant mental well-being SO5: Increase farm community social community-wide investment in farmer connectedness holistic health IG3: Sustained, supportive social SO3: Encourage help-seeking behaviors networks in farm communities SO4: Increase farm communities’ IG1: Sustained and expanded knowledge of holistic health resources community-wide investment in farmer SO5: Increase farm community social holistic health connectedness IG2: Farm community members exhibit an increase in holistic wellness IG3: Sustained, supportive social networks